The small rise in births witnessed during the COVID-19 pandemic in Finland, a sparsely populated country which has long been troubled by an aging population, seems not to have been sustained, according to Statistics Finland.
During the first half of this year, the country saw the lowest number of births on record.
From January to June, only 22,180 births were recorded in the entire country of 5.5 million, which according to preliminary figures from Statistics Finland, is 2,453 fewer than a year earlier.
“The total fertility rate was at its lowest in 2019 (1.35 per woman), after which it rose for two consecutive years. However, based on figures from the beginning of this year, it doesn't seem as though that growth will continue”, said Statistics Finland's senior statistician Joonas Toivola in a statement.
And despite the worst days of COVID-19 seemingly being over, mortality rates in the first half of the year exceeded the birth rate: from January to June, 30,854 deaths were recorded - 3,166 more than a year earlier.
However, despite the combination of rocketing death and plummeting birth rates, the population rose thanks to record-high immigration.
“Last year, the net immigration gain was the highest in 30 years. In the beginning of this year the figure was even higher than the same period last year,” senior statistician Joni Rantakari said.
Finland's birth rate has been steadily declining since the Fifties, plunging heavily in the past decade alone. The total fertility rate fell from 1.87 children per woman in 2010 to an all-time low of 1.35 children per woman in 2019 - worse than during a period of famine 150 years ago.
Even a half-yearly 6 percent rise in birth rates, presented as a “minor” baby boom, was said by demographers to be not enough to reverse decades of population decline.
In 2020, the total fertility rate across the EU was 1.5 births per woman, well below the level of natural population reproduction, let alone growth. In recent years, immigration has become the main driving factor behind population growth in many EU countries.