Birth rate in Finland hits hundred year lows
The Finnish statistics show that there year to June 2016 has seen fewer childbirths than any period since the country's independence almost a hundred years ago.
According to Statistics Finland's preliminary data, 26,517 children were born in Finland in January to June 2016. This is the lowest figure during Finland’s independence. Despite the fall in the number of births, the country's population grew by 6,269 persons during the first half of 2016. The reason for the population increase was migration gain from abroad: the number of immigrants was 7,022 higher than that of emigrants. The excess of births was negative as the number of births was 753 lower than that of deaths. Finland's population was 5,493,577 at the end of June.
From January to June Finland's population increased by 414 persons more than in the corresponding period in one year previously. The biggest reason for the growth in population increase was the increased migration gain received from abroad. Migration gain for immigration was 1,853 higher than the year before. Natural population increase went down by 1,439 persons from one year earlier.
According to the preliminary statistics of June, a total of 26,517 children were born during the first half of 2016, which was 912 fewer than in the corresponding period in 2015. The number of deaths was 27,270, which is 527 higher than one year earlier.