In Finland, the birth rate increased, but immigration accelerated population growth in 2021
NUMBER The number of births in Finland increased by 3,120 to 49,583 in 2021. preliminary information Statistics Finland released on Thursday.
Although the number of births was 7,760 lower than the number of deaths, the population increased by almost 16,000 to 5,549,599, as the number of migrants exceeded the number of emigrants by an exceptionally significant number – by more than 22,000.
The number of deaths (57,343) was the highest since 1944, exceeding the total in 2019 by 3,394 and in 2020 by 1,855. The total fertility rate, the number of children a woman would give birth in her lifetime at the current birth rate, was the fourth lowest in history, despite the positive development of recent years.
Markus Raposenior actuary at Statistics Finland, reminded According to Helsingin Sanomat, the increase in mortality is not particularly surprising, as the number of deaths is expected to rise whenever the average age of the population rises faster than life expectancy.
However, the magazine pointed out that the death toll would have been 518 lower than previously estimated if mortality had remained at exactly the same level as in 2020. It is questionable whether the increase is due to mortality caused by the coronavirus pandemic. Rapo.
“There were more than 57,000 deaths, and the difference is less than one percent. This is such a small difference that it can be explained by random variation, “he said.
According to statistics from the National Institute for Health and Welfare (THL), 1,136 people died of coronavirus last year. THL’s research professor Seppo Koskinen told Helsingin Sanomat that each victim of the disease had a calculated seven years of life remaining, which means a total of about 7,700 years of life lost.
Alcohol, on the other hand, is the leading cause of some 1,700 deaths and 2,200 deaths each year. THL estimates that the number of alcohol-related deaths means a loss of 31,000 annual life years.
STT on Thursday reported In 2021, Uusimaa and Pirkanmaa were the fastest growing provinces, the former growing by 12,700 and the latter by 4,700. Kymenlaakso, on the other hand, suffered the biggest losses, both in absolute and relative terms, and its population decreased by almost 1,400.
Although the population of Uusimaa grew, it lost the most inhabitants to interregional migration, a total of 2,500.
Aleksi Teivainen – HT