The number of foreign unemployed jobseekers decreased

The number of foreign unemployed jobseekers decreased for the first time since 2022. According to the Employment Bulletin based on the data from January, 14.3% of all unemployed jobseekers were foreign unemployed jobseekers.

According to the Employment Bulletin based on the data from January 2026:

• In January, there were 49,701 foreign unemployed jobseekers, which is 14.3% of all unemployed jobseekers. The number of foreign unemployed jobseekers decreased by 1.3% (444 people) from the previous year. 
  • The number of foreign unemployed jobseekers decreased for the first time since August 2022.
• In January, the number of foreign long-term unemployed was 16,560, which is 33.3% of all foreign unemployed jobseekers. Compared to the previous year, the number of foreign long-term unemployed jobseekers increased by 28.3% (3,650 people), but the growth rate had clearly decreased from its peak numbers of summer and autumn 2025. 
  • One reason for the increased share of the long-term unemployed is the fact that the number of foreign unemployed has started to decline.
• According to the Labour Force Survey, foreigners had an employment rate of 56.5% and an unemployment rate of 20.0% in the third quarter of 2025. The economic downturn continues to affect the employment rate of foreign citizens, which decreased slightly from the previous quarter. The unemployment rate of foreigners remained at the same level as in the previous quarter.

The KEHA Centre publishes a monthly review on the employment of foreign citizens and their participation in services. The monthly review is largely based on the register data of the Employment Service Statistics of the KEHA Centre. The review data is compiled from a monitoring carried out with the Power BI application.

January 2026 review on the unemployment of foreign citizens and foreign-language speakers and their participation in services

Further information: Employment Bulletins