Population wellbeing – Migrants

About one in two migrants feel that their quality of life is good

For the most part, persons born abroad with foreign background (hereafter migrants) are doing well, but there are significant differences in wellbeing, inclusion and access to services according to background, gender and age.

In 2022, less than half of migrants (48%) felt that their quality of life was good on average. The share was slightly lower than in the entire population, where the corresponding share was 52 per cent. Quality of life refers to a person's perception of their own situation, such as health, well-being, social relationships and living environment.

The challenges to quality of life varied by age group and background. Young adults experienced the most dissatisfaction with themselves, their neighbourhood and relationships. On the other hand, health-related challenges were emphasised among women aged 50 to 74.

Experiences of loneliness vary among migrants according to background and age

Of migrants, 14 per cent experienced loneliness, but experiences of loneliness varied significantly by age, gender and background. Loneliness was most common among young men and men who had moved to Finland from the Middle East and North Africa.

The majority of migrants had friends in Finland, but the share was clearly lower especially among those who had moved to Finland from the Middle East and North Africa.

On average, the experience of inclusion was slightly better among migrants than in the general population, but exclusion was emphasised in certain groups.

Migrants trust the police and feel safe, even though experiences of discrimination are common

Migrants' trust in social institutions varied by gender and background. Trust in the police was very high – about 90 per cent of migrants trusted the police, and no significant differences were observed between different background or age groups.

Migrants felt that their daily life was safe or very safe slightly more often than the general population.

Despite the good sense of security, experiences of discrimination were common among migrants. In the previous 12 months, 43 per cent of migrants had experienced discrimination. Experiences of discrimination were particularly pronounced among men from the Middle East and African countries.

The majority of migrants consider their health to be good

About two out of three respondents felt that their health was good, men slightly more often than women. Migrants had fewer long-term illnesses or health problems based on self-reported illnesses than the average for the entire population.

The perceived health of migrants had also improved slightly from 2018 and the share of those reporting long-term illnesses or health problems had decreased over the past four years, even though the change was relatively small.

Migrants are quite proficient in national languages, educated and able to work

Of the population with foreign background, 44 per cent had completed tertiary level education. The corresponding figure for the entire population was 30 per cent. The majority of migrants (63%) have excellent or average knowledge of the national languages of Finnish or Swedish.

The share of those who felt partially or completely incapacitated for work was at the same level among migrants as in the entire population. However, in some background country groups, perceived work ability was better than that of the population as a whole. The prevalence of problems with work ability and functional capacity varies greatly depending on the country of origin.

Linguistic challenges and lack of information make it difficult to seek social and health care services

Migrants felt that they needed the services of a doctor, nurse and dentist significantly more in 2022 than in 2018. The need for mental health services was particularly high among young adults. At the same time, the perception of the inadequacy of services increased.

In 2022, as many as a third felt that medical services were insufficient in relation to their needs. Correspondingly, almost half of the respondents felt that dental services were insufficient in relation to their needs.

Although the need for services was high in many groups, migrants used reception and occupational health services less often than the general population. Seeking treatment was particularly difficult due to the lack of a common language and information, long queues and high client fees.

Social services were used relatively more, but not everyone felt that they had found support that met their needs, and linguistic challenges made it difficult for some to use services.

About the data in more detail

• Read the entire statistical report (Julkari)
• Phenomenon reports and indicator data of the MoniSuomi 2022 survey (in Finnish)
  The indicator tables contain the results of each indicator by age, gender, education, background country and reason for entry. In addition, data are available from 12 wellbeing services counties by gender. On the table page, you will find the results, 95 percent confidence intervals and a description of how the indicator was formed. In addition, there is an expert's assessment on the table pages.
• Summary of the results: National study on the health, welfare and services of the foreign-born population - MoniSuomi 2022 : Key observations to support decision-making

Research results in multilingual

An information package on the use of health services is available in Estonian, Russian, Arabic and Vietnamese. The same information package has also been translated into Finnish, Swedish and English. All language versions can be downloaded from THL's material bank.

The information package is intended for third sector actors, especially organisations and the general public.

Research results in multiple languages

Background information

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Source

Health and well-being of the adult population with a foreign background – MoniSuomi 2022. Statistical report 4/2024. Population with foreign background. THL.

Description of the statistics

The MoniSuomi survey produced information on the health and well-being of the foreign-born adult population living in Finland. The target group of the MoniSuomi survey consisted of foreign-born people with foreign background aged 20 to 74 living in Finland.

The data collection was carried out between September 2022 and March 2023. Information was collected using an electronic questionnaire, a paper questionnaire and telephone interviews.

The sample of the study was drawn as a stratified random sample from the Population Information System maintained by the Digital and Population Data Services Agency. Persons who had lived in Finland for less than 12 months and those who had moved to Finland through adoption were excluded from the sample. Thus, the sample does not include those who moved to Finland as a result of the war in Ukraine. The sample was stratified so that 750 to 800 persons were drawn from each area from the 12 wellbeing services counties with the highest proportion of the immigrant population and 1,000 persons from the rest of Mainland Finland at random. In addition, additional samples were selected from the cities that funded the study (Espoo, Helsinki, Turku and Vantaa). The sample of the survey was thus a total of 18,600 people.

A total of 7838 people participated in the study, which is 44% of the sample. The Healthy Finland 2022 survey, which was collected at the same time as the MoniSuomi survey, is used as reference data for reporting. The change in time is examined with the help of the FinMonik survey collected in 2018–2019 on the immigrant population. These results are limited to those under 65 years of age in accordance with the upper age limit of the FinMonik survey.

Brief methodological description of the materials and results of the phenomenon reports (in Finnish)

Update schedule

The MoniSuomi survey will be combined with the Healthy Finland survey, which will be carried out every three years in the future. The next extensive survey of the adult population will be carried out in 2028.