The population of Helsinki was 648,042 at the turn of the year 2018/2019. The population grew by 4,770 inhabitants, or 0.7 per cent, during the year 2018. The population growth in Helsinki has slowed down and it was 3,300 persons less than in 2017, which was a year of exceptional growth. After the year 2013, the population growth trend has been descending in Helsinki.

The biggest reason for the slowing down is the increase in the number of persons who were removed from the population statistics of Helsinki because they were registered in Helsinki, but had been missing for long. The number of babies born in the capital kept decreasing as well. The number has decreased steadily since 2015. The migration to other municipalities grew substantially last year, too. Construction has increased remarkably in Espoo and Vantaa during the last few years.

Record-breaking growth in Vantaa

The population growth in the rest of the capital region was 9,718 persons. That was 1,344 persons more than the year before, because the growth particularly in Vantaa was exceptional, 5,139 inhabitants. The last time Vantaa has grown more than this was in 1975.

The population growth of Helsinki started slowing down in autumn last year. In January–February 2019, the population growth in Helsinki was just less than 200 persons, while Espoo and Vantaa both grew by a thousand inhabitants during the same period.

The number of children in early childhood education age no longer growing in Helsinki

The growth in the age group for children in early childhood education age, i.e. children aged between 1 and 6 years, has continued to slow down and in 2018, the growth was just 17 children. The growth in the number of children in comprehensive school age, i.e. children aged between 7 and 15 years, was still considerable, 1,570 persons. The working-age population, i.e. persons aged between 18 and 64 years, grew less than the previous year, by 1,650 persons. The number of inhabitants of the capital aged over 65 years grew by less than 2,000 persons last year and the number of persons aged over 75 by around 1,400 persons.

The number of Finnish-speaking inhabitants of Helsinki grew by around 1,200 persons last year and the number of Swedish-speaking inhabitants by less than 200 persons. The growth in the number of foreign-language speakers was a little more than 3,500 person and their share of the population is now 15.7 per cent.

The numbers are based on Statistics Finland's statistics on population structure, published on 29 March 2019.

Population of Helsinki and compared areas at the turn of the year 2018/2019 and population change in 2017 and 2018

Table data source: Statistics Finland