What is multi-local life, and what does it imply for Helsinki and the Helsinki Region in future? Is the coronavirus pandemic causing a flight from cities, as some commentators have suggested?

Finland's population growth has slowed down to nearly record-low levels. In the Helsinki Region, growth has meanwhile remained rapid. In all of Finland, population is expected to grow until 2035, but in the capital region the growth is set to continue until the end of the current projection period in 2050.

For the first time in fifty years, a considerable part of the growth in the child population of Helsinki occurs in the existing housing stock and infill areas. Today, there are more children in the city than at any time since the mid-1970s. This article looks at the development of the number and proportion of 0–15-year-olds in Helsinki’s population between 1962 and 2017.

The number of residents speaking a foreign mother tongue has increased rapidly in Helsinki over the past few years, as has their proportion of the total population. The rise is set to continue, but the impact of the recent inflows of asylum applicants on Helsinki's foreign-language population is expected to remain limited.

Currently almost 100,000 people aged over 65 live in Helsinki, equivalent to 16 per cent of the city’s population. This figure is expected to reach 20 per cent by 2032. The population of Helsinki is ageing rapidly but not as fast as the entire Finnish population.

Helsinki is one of the fastest growing metropolises in Europe. New areas for living and business are rising especially in areas formerly occupied by logistical and industrial functions.

There is a constant demand for comprehensive information and knowledge in running and developing a city. It is important to have accurate, timely and relevant data, statistics and research available on a number of urban phenomena, as well as on new issues affecting cities.

In Helsinki, the number of young people aged 12 to 29 began to increase strongly during the recession of the 1990s, and today there are nearly a quarter, 30,000 people, more of them than in 1993.