Net migration in Finland grew by 35% between 2015 and 2016, reaching 16 800 persons and accounting for the majority of population growth in 2016. While emigration also increased in 2016 – with over 18 000 individuals leaving Finland – this was countered by a sharp increase in immigration, as close to 35 000 individuals moved to Finland.
Approximately 58% of immigrants to Finland were citizens of non-European countries, 10 percentage points more than the previous year. Immigration from non-European countries rose by 46% while immigration from EU28 countries fell by 7%. Emigration rose both among non-European (13%) and European migrants (11%). Most immigrants to Finland in 2016 came from Iraq (3 250), Estonia (2 600), Russia (2 550), Afghanistan (1 850) and Syria (1 700). The number of Iraqi immigrants, in particular, increased fourfold compared to the inflows in 2015. High net migration numbers in 2016 were primarily driven by the large number of asylum seekers who arrived in Finland in 2015. In 2015, alone a total of 32 500 asylum applications were lodged, over two thirds of which were made by Iraqis.
In 2016, 26 000 resident permit applications were received by the Finnish Immigration Service, 14% more than in 2015 and the first increase in several years. The main categories were family grounds (41%), employment purposes (29%) and study (27%). This composition is similar to the previous year.
Estonian citizens accounted for the largest proportion of foreign citizens emigrating from Finland in 2016, accounting for 20% of the total. Despite the relatively high outflow of Estonians, net migration has remained positive. Information on nationality was missing for 17% of the foreign emigrants. The number of people whose nationality is unknown increased substantially in 2015 and stayed relatively high in 2016 due to the voluntary departure of many asylum seekers before receiving their decision and without informing officials about their departure.
A total of 5 650 asylum applications were submitted in Finland in 2016, well below the 32 500 in 2015. As in 2015, the largest number of asylum seekers were from Iraq (1 250), Afghanistan (750) and Syria (600). Alongside these, Finland received 750 quota refugees in 2016 registered by the UNHCR in Turkey and Lebanon. All but one of these quota refugees were Syrians. Asylum seeker numbers remained relatively stable during the first half of 2017; between January and July 2017 a total of 3 050 individuals applied for asylum in Finland. In addition, by the end of August 2017, Finland had welcomed the vast majority of the 2 100 asylum seekers from Greece and Italy under the temporary emergency relocation scheme.
From the beginning of 2016 to the end of August 2017, about 18 500 (43%) asylum seekers received a negative decision on their application. The Finnish government has included measures to enhance the effectiveness of returns in its action plan on asylum policy.
Over the past years the government has sought to improve control of immigration and streamline processes. These reforms include: transferring duties from the Police and the Border Guard to the Finnish Immigration Service; legislative amendments requiring beneficiaries of international or temporary protection to prove they have sufficient means to live in Finland in order to exercise their right to family reunification; amendment of the criteria for granting international protection (the abolishment of residence permits on the basis of humanitarian grounds), the end of the exemption from the processing fee for the family of those receiving protection; a reduced period for appealing rejected asylum claims; decentralisation of the handling of appeals and the introduction of new alternatives to detention.
The tight fiscal environment in Finland has prompted much thought into new models for funding integration, speeding up the integration process, and allowing migrants to combine education and work in a flexible way. For example, Social Impact investing has been explored as a way to harness private funding in the integration process. The recently-launched pilot of a Social Impact Bond for integration has the ambitious goal of moving individuals into employment within four months of their beginning participation in the programme.
Alongside efforts to increase the efficiency of migrant integration training, the Finnish government is working towards strengthening the economic benefits of migration. Efforts include a cross-sectoral Migration Policy Programme to Strengthen Labour Migration, published in early 2018 as part of the General Government Fiscal Plan for 2018-21. Further measures include changes to facilitate the entrepreneur resident permit and the launch of the Talent Boost programme in Spring 2017, which aims to make Finland more attractive to international talent while also channelling the expertise of international talent already based in Finland to support the internationalisation of companies and innovation activities.
