A smaller share of Finland’s growing foreign-language population receives basic social assistance and unemployment benefits than a decade ago, according to figures released by the Social Insurance Institution of Finland, Kela, on Wednesday.

Kela data shows that the number of people whose registered mother tongue is not Finnish, Swedish or Sámi rose by more than 70 per cent between 2017 and 2025, from 373,000 to 646,000.

Despite that rise, the proportion receiving several forms of income support fell over the same period.

In 2017, 23 per cent of foreign-language adults received basic social assistance. By 2025, the figure had fallen to 18 per cent. The share receiving labour market subsidy dropped from 24 per cent to 16 per cent.

“The foreign-language population in Finland is larger than before, so their share of Kela benefit recipients has also increased. The development reflects the change in the population structure,” Kela research manager Signe Jauhiainen said in the agency’s release.

The number of foreign-language social assistance recipients still increased as the population grew. Kela recorded 110,000 recipients in 2017 and 137,000 in 2025. Last year’s total included 92,000 adults and 45,000 children.

Jauhiainen said much of the increase in recipient numbers came from Ukrainian speakers after 2023. Ukrainians living in Finland under temporary protection did not qualify for labour market subsidy.

Kela paid €408 million in basic social assistance to foreign-language recipients in 2025, representing 41 per cent of total spending on the benefit. In 2017, the corresponding amount was €172 million, or 24 per cent.

Foreign-language recipients received €597 million in labour market subsidy in 2025, accounting for one-third of total payments under the scheme.

Labour market subsidy and the basic unemployment allowance were replaced by Finland’s new general benefit on 1 May 2026.

Kela paid about €9.2 billion through nine main income-support benefits in 2025. Foreign-language recipients received around €1.8 billion, or 20 per cent. In 2017, they received 15 per cent of €8.6 billion paid through the same benefits.

Kela said the figures differ between benefit categories. Foreign-language recipients accounted for more than 40 per cent of basic social assistance spending in 2025 but less than 5 per cent of national pension payments.

General housing allowance followed a similar trend in recipient rates. Some 26 per cent of foreign-language adults received the benefit in 2017, compared with 18 per cent in 2025.

Their share of housing allowance spending moved in the opposite direction, rising from 19 per cent to 27 per cent. Kela linked part of the change to Ukrainians entering the Finnish social security system and changes to housing support rules.

Students moved from general housing allowance to the student housing supplement in 2025. Owner-occupiers also lost eligibility for general housing allowance during the year, changing the composition of recipients.

Kela said the declining use of unemployment and social assistance among the foreign-language population indicates that a larger share of the group is working or studying.

HT