Growth in working age population will depend on immigration in coming years

Net migration will remain high in the coming years, according to the latest short-term Labour Market Forecast. This is reflected in the number of unemployed jobseekers. Since the growth in the number of people of working age largely depends on immigration, the number of unemployed foreign jobseekers is expected to continue to grow.

The figures in the Labour Force Survey for April 2024 show that:

• In April, the number of unemployed foreign jobseekers totalled 41,260, which is 15 per cent of all unemployed jobseekers. The number of unemployed foreign jobseekers increased 18 per cent (6,260 persons) from the previous year. 
• The latest short-term Labour Market Forecast, published by the Ministry of Economic Affairs and Employment, predicts net migration to remain high in the coming years. This is inevitably reflected in the number of unemployed jobseekers: the number of unemployed foreign jobseekers is expected to continue to grow as the growth in the number of people of working age largely depends on immigration.
• According to the Labour Force Survey, the employment rate of foreigners was 61.4 per cent in the last quarter of 2023. The seasonally adjusted employment rate of foreign citizens fell by as much as 4.9 percentage points from the previous quarter.
  • The employment rate of foreigners remained markedly higher in the first half of 2023 than before the coronavirus crisis. However, the trend in the employment rate has now started to fall considerably due to the economic decline. The employment rate of foreigners is more cyclically sensitive than that of Finnish citizens, and the gap between them has now widened significantly.

On the basis of the register data of the Employment Service Statistics and the survey data of the Labour Force Survey, the Centre of Expertise in Immigrant Integration publishes a monthly review of employment among foreign citizens and foreign-language speakers and of their participation in employment promotion services.

May 2024 overview of unemployment of foreign citizens and foreign-language speakers and their participation in employment promotion services (only in Finnish)

More information:
Employment Bulletins
Short-term labour market forecast of the Ministry of Economic Affairs and Employment