According to government figures issued today, a record number of Russian residents, surpassing those of the previous three decades, are expected to relocate in neighboring Finland in 2022.
According to Finland’s statistics office, 6,003 persons relocated from Russia to Finland last year, making Russia the leading nation of origin for emigration there.
In general, immigration to Finland increased, with over 50,000 individuals arriving in the Nordic nation, up from 29,000 and 36,000 respectively the previous two years.
Annual emigration from Russia to Finland has stayed below 3,100 individuals since the early 1990s.
“You can see that Russia has a lot of triggers for this at the moment, which of course have to do with the war in Ukraine,” Johannes Hirvela, head of the immigration ministry’s development office, told the AFP network.
“Many Russians have come here as asylum seekers,” he said, adding that some came for “work reasons.”
“Several Finnish companies have left Russia, and some have taken Russian employees with them,” Hirvela remarked.
Sweden, India, the Philippines, and Estonia were the next most common places of origin for emigrants to Finland.
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