Birth rate remains low in Finland in May

A total of 19,694 children were born in the country from January to May 2018, which is 780 fewer than in the corresponding period in 2017, according to Statistics Finland.

The number of births was 3,711 lower than the number of deaths during the stipulated period.

The number of deaths was 23,405, which is 176 lower than one year earlier.

Finland's population was 5,514,997 at the end of May. The total population, however, increased by 1,867 persons during January-May. The reason for the increase was migration gain from abroad, since immigration exceeded emigration by 5,578.

According to the preliminary statistics for May, 11,204 persons immigrated to Finland from abroad and 5,626 persons emigrated from Finland.

The number of immigrants was 978 lower and the number of emigrants 756 higher than in the corresponding period of the previous year. In all, 2,928 of the immigrants and 3,600 of the emigrants were Finnish citizens.

According to the preliminary data, the number of inter-municipal migrations totalled 99,680 during January-May. Compared with the corresponding period in 2017, the decrease was 1,076 migrations according to the municipal division of 2018.