The City of Helsinki has released a forecast that the capital will reach 700,000 inhabitants in 2028.
The prognosis claims that the population will grow by 14.8 percent over the next decade and a half – from 656,920 at the end of 2020 to 754,258 by 2036. Greater Helsinki, on the other hand, is forecast to grow by 16.9 per cent to 1,781,688.
Pekka Vuori, Expert of the City of Helsinki Executive Agency, said According to Helsingin Sanomat, the increase in capital is expected to be due in particular to areas that have developed significantly. For example, Kalasatama and Pasila are forecast to grow by 16,000 and 13,800 inhabitants, which corresponds to almost a third of Helsinki’s growth.
Other emerging areas are Hernesaari, Jätkäsaari, Kruunuvuorenranta, Laajasalo, Lauttasaari, Malmi Airport and Vuosaari.
The mountain added that the effects of the coronavirus pandemic have been taken into account in the baseline forecast, assuming that migration profits in the city will return to pre-pandemic levels in 2023.
“Helsinki’s growth is forecast to be only about 2,000 inhabitants this year, which is so low that such figures are unlikely to be seen in 15 years,” he said.
The population grew by an average of 7,000 inhabitants per year in the 2010s. Growth is projected to reach 4,400 inhabitants in 2022 and return to near-normal levels from 2023 onwards.
The main drivers of population growth over the next 15 years are expected to be immigration and job opportunities, which will attract people elsewhere in Finland. However, large profits will not come at the expense of the surrounding areas, and the capital is projected to continue to lose to the surrounding municipalities.
This partly explains why the Helsinki Metropolitan Area is set to grow faster than the capital itself, according to Helsingin Sanomat.
Both Finnish- and Swedish-speakers predict that they will see their share of the population decline as a result of immigration, the former faster than the latter. The Swedish-speaking population is projected to grow by 6.4 percent over 15 years to just over 39,000 people.
“The number of Swedish speakers decreased for a long time due to the age structure of the population,” Vuori said.
Aleksi Teivainen – HT