People have always moved to Helsinki in search of work, education and a better life. The first wave took place in the 1860s, and even today, people of working age are moving to the city from Finland and abroad.
Trains rumbled, trams clattered and even cars began to appear in the cityscape as people flocked from the provinces to Helsinki in the late 19th century. It was the beginning of the first real wave of migration to the capital city. There was a buzz and a sense of cheerful optimism in the air.
“People believed that the world was becoming a better place through technology and progress. Spirits were high and attitudes positive,” says Professor Emerita of European History Laura Kolbe from the University of Helsinki.
The city’s growth was exceptionally rapid. Migration was spurred by a railway connection to the interior, which opened in the 1860s, and by rapid industrialisation, which provided urban livelihoods to landless young people who had moved from the countryside. Over the course of three decades, Helsinki’s population tripled, increasing from 20,000 towards 100,000.
In Helsinki, women typically ended up working as maids first, while the most common entry-level job for men was that of a coachman, the equivalent of a taxi driver in those days.
“The situation has not really changed over the past century and a half,” says Kolbe, referring to today’s app-based taxi drivers.
The second sharp surge in population growth occurred immediately after the wars, in 1945, as 10,000 people moved to Helsinki in the space of a year.
“It was a huge number considering that there was a shortage of everything,” Laura Kolbe remarks.
The spirit of the times was no longer quite so positive and welcoming. The city’s residents felt that the migration was out of control. There were too many people. Some demanded that gates be installed at the borders of Helsinki.
“People were concerned about the depopulation of rural areas. They felt nostalgic for the authentic, original way of life in the countryside. We are still largely having the same discussion. The difference is that we are now talking about green values,” Kolbe notes.
Migration has always been linked to housing policy. Helsinki’s population began to decline in the statistics for the first time in the 1960s, as young families from the baby-boom generation – the top tax payers – moved to Vantaa and Espoo in search of more space.
This was a major concern that needed to be addressed. Consequently, new suburbs were built in Helsinki: Pihlajamäki, Mellunmäki, Kontula and Vuosaari.
A similar slowdown in population growth was observed at the turn of the millennium. The trend was dubbed the ‘Nurmijärvi phenomenon’.
As a general rule, urban life is characterised by tolerance, both here and around the world.
Today, Helsinki’s population is growing at a rate of nearly 10,000 people per year. The city is experiencing its third youth boom, and people are moving here for education, work and a better life. In addition to intranational arrivals, the population growth is also explained by immigration from abroad.
There is a buzz in the air again. Or what sort of Helsinki are people moving to these days?
“As a general rule, urban life is characterised by tolerance, both here and around the world. People are polite and accept that there are all sorts of people living here, and that more people are coming to settle here,” Laura Kolbe concludes.
Text: Laura Savolainen
This story was published in Helsinki-lehti magazine, issue 1/2026.