Fewer people get Finnish citizenship in 2020

A total of 7,816 foreign nationals living in Finland permanently were granted Finnish citizenship in 2020, marking a decline of 1,833 year on year, according to the Statistics Finland.

In relative terms, the number fell by 19 per cent over the previous year.

In 2020, Finnish citizenship was granted most often to Russians, numbering 1,546, which was 400 less than thgat in the year before.

Iraqis were the second largest group of recipients of Finnish citizenship, numbering 602, followed by Somalians, 541 and Estonians, 516.

Of the people who received Finnish citizenship, 4,179 were women and 3,637 men. The average age for women was 30.2 years and 27.7 years for men.

Among the persons having been naturalised , 2,158 were aged under 18 and 221 were older than 65.

Examined by five-year age groups, the number of persons becoming naturalised was highest among those aged 30 to 34 years, 1,242, representing 16 per cent of all those who received Finnish citizenship.

In 2020, altogether 98 per cent of those having been granted Finnish citizenship retained their former citizenship. At the end of 2020, there were 143,256 naturalised Finnish citizens who also held the citizenship of some other country. citizenship.

Of them, 23,615 were native-born citizens of Finland who have been granted citizenship in another country and 119,641 were foreign citizens who have been granted Finnish citizenship.

The largest dual nationality groups at the end of 2020 were citizens of Russia, 34,890, Sweden, 8,987, Somalia, 7,469, Estonia, 6,923, and Iraq, 5,923.