Burak Bir
30 January 2026•Update: 30 January 2026
LONDON
Immigration to Finland declined sharply last year as stricter regulations led to a drop in applications for work, study and citizenship, according to data released Friday by the Finnish Immigration Service.
Applications for workers, students, and international protection all fell in 2025, while citizenship applications declined by more than one-third and deportation decisions increased by more than 40%, Finnish public broadcaster YLE reported, citing the immigration authority.
New figures also showed that labor-related immigration dropped by 25% compared to the previous year.
“The decrease in labour-related immigration is primarily due to the weak development of the Finnish economy in recent years,” Johannes Hirvela, director of Information Services at the Finnish Immigration Service, said in a statement.
The data showed that the largest number of applications for work-based residence permits came from citizens of India, the Philippines, China, Vietnam, and Thailand.
Of roughly 180,000 applications processed last year, about 80% were approved. These included around 110,000 residence permit decisions, 5,000 asylum decisions, and 11,000 temporary protection decisions, mostly for Ukrainians.
Deportation decisions up 41%
The data also showed a sharp decline in citizenship applications after they reached record highs in 2023 and 2024, before amendments to the Citizenship Act took effect.
In 2025, citizenship applications fell by 34% year-on-year to just over 11,200, following the government’s move to tighten the law in late 2024 under Prime Minister Petteri Orpo.
The Orpo government extended the minimum residence period required to obtain citizenship from five to eight years and introduced additional restrictions.
In 2025, Finland issued 2,800 deportation decisions for people residing in the country with residence permits, marking a 41% increase from 2024.
“The increase in deportation decisions is due to changes in legislation, more effective follow-up monitoring and an increase in deportation requests made by the police,” Hirvela said.
