Demographics of Finland

Demographics of Finland
Population pyramid of Finland in 2020
Population	5,604,558
Growth rate	0.73% (2023 est.)
Birth rate	7.8 births/1,000 population (2023 est.)
Death rate	10.9 deaths/1,000 population (2023 est.)
Life expectancy	81.76 years
• male	78.86 years
• female	84.79 years (2022 est.)
Fertility rate	1.26 children born/woman (2023 est.)[1]
Infant mortality rate	2.13 deaths/1,000 live births
Net migration rate	10.47 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2023 est.)
Age structure
0–14 years	15.4% (2021)
15–64 years	61.6% (2021)
65 and over	23.1% (2021)
Sex ratio
Total	0.97 male(s)/female (2022 est.)
At birth	1.05 male(s)/female
Under 15	1.05 male(s)/female
65 and over	0.63 male(s)/female
Nationality
Nationality	Finn
Major ethnic	Finnish (90.9% background)
Language
Official	Finnish, Swedish
Spoken	Finnish, Swedish, Sámi

The demographics of Finland is monitored by the Statistics Finland (Finnish: Tilastokeskus, Swedish: Statistikcentralen). Finland has a population of over 5.6 million people, ranking it 19th out of 27 within the European Union. The average population density in Finland is 19 inhabitants per square kilometre (49/sq mi), making it the third most sparsely populated country in Europe, after Iceland and Norway. Population distribution is extremely uneven, with the majority of the population concentrated in the southern and western regions of the country. The majority of the Finnish population - approximately 73% - lives in urban areas. Approximately 1.58 million, or almost 30%, reside solely in the Helsinki Metropolitan Area. Conversely, the Arctic Lapland region contains only two inhabitants per square kilometre (5.2/sq mi).^[2]

Finland is a predominantly ethnically homogeneous country with a dominant ethnicity of Finnish descent. However, there are notable minority groups in the form of Finland-Swedes, Sámi, and Roma people, with important historical significance. The official languages are Finnish and Swedish, with the latter being the mother tongue of roughly 5.2% of the Finnish populace. Finland was a part of the Swedish kingdom for around 500 years.^[3]

Due to recent immigration, significant populations of ethnic Estonians, Russians, Iraqis, Chinese and Somalis now reside in the country. Furthermore, by 2023, Ukrainians had become the second-largest ethnic group in the region, following closely behind the Estonian population.^[4][5]

As of 2022^[update], Statistics Finland publishes data on the foreign population using three distinct methodologies. The Finnish population includes persons of foreign origin and background, who make up 9.1% of the total population.^{[note 1]} In additional calculations, the proportion of persons born outside Finland is 8.6%. Individuals who have a first language other than Finnish, Swedish or Sámi account for 8.9%.^[3]

In the history of Finland, the first human settlement originated approximately 11,000 BC, following the end of the Ice Age.^[7] The initial settlers of present-day Finland were presumably hunter-gatherers. They were later replaced by the Sámi, followed by Finnic populations from the east, south and west. The initial dependable population information dates back to 1749 when Swedish officials initially recorded population statistics. Finland was a part of the Swedish Kingdom until it became an autonomous state within the Russian Empire in 1809, and finally gained independence in 1917.

In the late 19th and 20th centuries, significant emigration, primarily from rural areas, occurred to Sweden and North America, while Finland's primary immigrant source was other European countries. Approximately 300,000 Finnish nationals reside abroad and, according to estimates, the number of individuals of Finnish ancestry worldwide ranges from 1.6 to 2 million. Currently, Sweden, the United Kingdom, Germany, the United States, and Spain are the preferred destinations for most Finnish emigrants.^[8]

One of the primary challenges facing society in the future is adapting to demographic changes, particularly the aging of the population. The proportion of the working-age population is decreasing, resulting in projected labour shortages.^[9] However, immigration has significantly increased in recent years. If the current trend persists, the population of Finland will continue to increase and could even reach the milestone of 6 million people by 2040.^[10]

Cite error: There are <ref group=note> tags on this page, but the references will not show without a {{reflist|group=note}} template (see the help page).