Helsinki’s population was 588,549 at year-end 2010, up by 5,199 from year-end 2009. Growth has continued in 2011.

Two-thirds of Helsinki residents lived in families last year. Families with at least one child under age 18 represented 18 percent of all households. One-quarter of Helsinki residents lived alone, and their share of all households was 49 percent.

Population growth in the city is explained by immigration and births. Helsinki gained people both from elsewhere in Finland and from abroad. Net gain from Finland was 1,100 and from abroad 2,500. Within the Helsinki region, though, Helsinki lost 2,400 people to neighbouring municipalities. The number of births in the city continued to grow and exceeded deaths by 1,600.

The foreign-born population in Helsinki continues to grow. Helsinki residents speaking other than Finnish or Swedish (official languages of Finland and Helsinki) as their first language grew by more than 3,800 in 2010 and now number close to 63,500, which represents 10.9 percent of the city’s population. The largest foreign-born population group is Russian speakers (13,700 people), followed by Estonian speakers (7,900) and Somali speakers (6,500).

The city’s permanent residents included 44,461 foreign nationals at year-end, which is 7.6 percent of the population.

Finnish speakers represented 83.0 percent and Swedish speakers 6.1 percent of Helsinki’s population.

The population data is reported by City of Helsinki Urban Facts.