Immigration was up by 21 percent last year compared to 2015. According to figures out from Statistics Finland on Wednesday, more than 34,900 people became residents of Finland in 2016. That exceeds the previous record, set in 2013, by almost 3,000. Returning Finns made up just 12 percent of the arrivals, says the official statistics bureau.
In 2015, Finland received a record influx of 32,500 asylum seekers, some of whom received residence permits last year.
Migration within the country continued to grow, too, with the biggest net gains in the Uusimaa and Pirkanmaa region, which include Helsinki and Tampere respectively.
Meanwhile emigration increased by 11 percent to more than 18,000 people. The net migration gain rose to 16,823, up from the previous year’s 12,441.