Front page Migration analysis of Small Cities Migration analysis of Small Cities Date: 15.4. –18.8.2025 Information Services and Data Analysis Research, studies Immigration to Finland has increased significantly in the 2020s and, unlike in the past, smaller cities of Finland have also experienced substantial net migration from abroad. MDI conducted an analysis for the Association of Finnish Cities and Municipalities (Kuntaliitto) of immigration, the foreign-language population and the internal migration of foreign-language residents in a group of approximately 55 smaller cities of Finland. In addition to publicly available sources, the analysis drew on separately commissioned detailed data on the overall migration of immigrants, broken down into more detailed language groups, functional groups and income groups. The analysis consisted of: 1. A background section on the foreign-language population in smaller cities of Finland in comparison with the rest of Finland. 2. An overview of immigration to smaller cities of Finland and the migration of foreign-language residents from these cities. 3. A more detailed analysis of migration patterns across different population groups. In addition to a broad range of descriptive methods, the analysis made extensive use of various standardisation methods to normalise differences in migration patterns and improve comparability. The analysis identified the growing importance of immigration to smaller cities of Finland and its contribution to rejuvenating their population base. At the same time, the share of employed people among immigrants in smaller cities of Finland is lower than in larger cities, while immigrants’ income levels are low. Migration to these cities is particularly driven by people from Eastern Europe, especially for manual and lower-skilled occupations. A particular challenge for smaller cities of Finland was identified in their limited retention of foreign-language residents from the perspective of internal migration. This has resulted in substantial internal migration among the immigrant population, shifting the demographic effects of immigration away from smaller cities of Finland, particularly towards the Helsinki Metropolitan Area. Keywords: Immigration Municipalities Population and migration
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