Birth rate remains low at end May

A total of 18,371 children were born in the country during January-May,, which is 1,450 fewer than in the corresponding period in 2018, according to Statistics Finland.

The number of deaths was 22,961, which is 993 lower than one year earlier.

According to Statistics Finland's preliminary data, Finland's population was 5,519,586 at the end of May.

The population of the country, however, increased by 1,667 persons during January-May. The reason for the increase was migration gain from abroad, since immigration exceeded emigration by 6,669.

The number of births was 4,590 lower than that of deaths.

According to the preliminary statistics for May, 11,850 persons immigrated to Finland from abroad and 5,181 persons emigrated from Finland.

The number of immigrants was 626 higher and the number of emigrants 2,212 lower than in the corresponding period of the previous year. In all, 2,840 of the immigrants and 3,383 of the emigrants were Finnish citizens.