Birth rate steady in H1, but migration high

The rate of birth in the country in the first half of this year remained low, according to Statistics Finland’s preliminary data.

The number of births in January to June was 3,974 less than that of deaths.

A total of 27,926 children were born in those six months, which posted a decline of 1,552 births from that in the corresponding period of 2017.

The number of deaths in the same period was 31,900 or 32 deaths less than one year ago.

The country’s population stood at 5,517,887 at the end of July.

The population, however, increased by 4,757 persons in January-July due to migration gain from abroad, as the number of immigrations exceeded that of emigrations by 8,731.

In July, 16,926 people immigrated to Finland and 8,195 emigrated from it.

Immigrants in the period numbered 1,033 less year-on-year while the number of emigrants rose by 1,132. In all, 5,131 of the immigrants and 5,216 of the emigrants were Finnish citizens.