Birth rate remains low at end-July

A total of 26,313 children were born in the country in January to July, posting a decline of 1,781 than that in the corresponding period of 2018, said the Statistics Finland.

The number of deaths was 31,261 during the period, marking a decrease of 1,247 than one year earlier, said a press release.

Finland’s population was 5,522,848 at the end of July. The population of the country, however, increased by 4,929 persons in January-July. The reason for the increase was migration gain from abroad, since immigration exceeded emigration by 10,226. The number of births was 4,948 lower than that of deaths.

According to the preliminary statistics for July, 17,568 persons immigrated to Finland from abroad and 7,342 persons emigrated from Finland.

The number of immigrants was 782 higher and the number of emigrants 2,613 lower than that in the corresponding period of the previous year. In all, 5,091 of the immigrants and 4,702 of the emigrants were Finnish citizens.