Latin American migration to Finland

Latin Americans in Finland

Total population
Per United Nations: 10,000 (2017) [1] Per Statistics Finland: at least 10,060 (2023) [2]
Regions with significant populations
Helsinki, Espoo, Vantaa, Tampere, Turku, Porvoo
Languages
Spanish, Portuguese, Finnish
Religion
Christianity (predominantly Catholicism)
Related ethnic groups
Latin Americans in the UK

Latin American migration to Finland means immigrants from Latin America who reside in Finland.

Demographics

Nationalities

Origins of people with a close Latin American background ^[2]

Nationality	Population (2023)
Total	10,060
Brazilians	2,611
Mexicans	1,346
Colombians	1,003
Peruvians	770
Chileans	753
Cubans	694
Argentinians	619
Venezuelans	466
Ecuadorians	338
Nicaraguans	296
Dominicans	262
Bolivians	212
Hondurans	180
Uruguayans	139
Salvadorans	96
Costa Ricans	90
Guatemalans	80
Paraguayans	56
Panamanians	35
Haitians	14
Puerto Ricans	N/A

Languages

As of 2018, Spanish is spoken by 8,099 people in Finland and Portuguese by 3,024; this includes both Spaniards and Portuguese people. ^[3]

Spanish and Portuguese speakers by municipality in 2018 ^[4]

№	Municipality	Spanish speakers	%	Portuguese speakers	%	Total	%
1.	Helsinki	2,916	0.45	1,021	0.16	3,937	0.61
2.	Espoo	977	0.34	327	0.12	1,304	0.46
3.	Vantaa	511	0.22	249	0.11	760	0.33
4.	Tampere	472	0.20	199	0.084	671	0.28
5.	Turku	445	0.23	173	0.09	618	0.31
-	Rest of Finland	2,778	0.07	1,055	0.03	3,833	0.10
-	Finland	8,099	0.15	3,024	0.05	11,123	0.20

Notable people

Sara Ferrara

Rafinha

Argentine

See also categories: descent , expatriates

• Monica Sileoni, gymnast
• Maximo Tolonen, footballer

Brazilian

See also categories: descent , expatriates

• Daniel Dolenc, basketball player
• Getúlio Fredo, football manager
• Luís Fernando da Silva, youth coach
• Piracaia, former footballer
• Rafinha, football coach and former footballer

Chilean

Main article: Chileans in Finland

See also categories: descent , expatriates

• Matias Kivikko Arraño, footballer
• Diandra, singer
• Marce Rendic, radio personality

Colombian

See also categories: descent , expatriates

• Felipe Aspegren, footballer
• Camilo Miettinen, ice hockey player
• Tuomas Turriago, composer and pianist

Dominican Republic

See also categories: descent , expatriates

• Alex Ciriaco, footballer

Mexican

See also categories: descent , expatriates

• Sara Ferrara, track cyclist
• Ruudolf, hip hop artist
• Sofia Sida, singer

Peruvian

See also categories: descent

• Clara Petrozzi, violinist
• Alberto Velásquez, footballer

Puerto Rican

See also categories: descent , expatriates

• Alex Oikkonen, footballer
• Juan Coca, footballer
• Joseph Marrero, footballer

Others

• Finnish people of Latin American descent: Haitian, Uruguayan
• Immigrants:
• Expatriates: Cuban, Haitian, Nicaraguan, Salvadoran, Uruguayan

References

1. "United Nations Population Division | Department of Economic and Social Affairs". un.org. Archived from the original on 2018-06-29. Retrieved 2018-06-29.
2. "11rv -- Origin and background country by sex, by municipality, 1990-2023". Statistics Finland . Retrieved 31 January 2025.
   
   These numbers include the following 20 Latin American countries: Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Cuba, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, El Salvador, Guatemala, Haiti, Honduras, Mexico, Nicaragua, Panama, Paraguay, Peru, Uruguay and Venezuela. The numbers do not include Puerto Rico because Statistics Finland does not differentiate it from the United States. Also note:
   
   "Origin and background country". Statistics Finland . Retrieved 31 January 2025. Origin and background country ... All such persons who have at least one parent who was born in Finland are also considered to be persons with Finnish background. ... Persons whose both parents or the only known parent have been born abroad are considered to be persons with foreign background. ... If either parent's country of birth is unknown, the background country for persons born abroad is their own country of birth. ... For children adopted from abroad, the adoptive parents are regarded as the biological parents.
   
   I.e., according to Statistics Finland, people in Finland:
    • whose both parents are Latin American-born,
    • or whose only known parent was born in Latin America,
    • or who were born in Latin America and whose parents' countries of birth are unknown.
   
   Thus, for example, people with one Finnish parent and one Latin American parent or people with more distant Latin American ancestry are not included in this country-based non-ethnic figure.
   Also, Latin American-born adoptees' backgrounds are determined by their adoptive parents, not by their biological parents.
3. "Väestö". Stat.fi: Statistics – Population structure. Statistics Finland. 2017. Retrieved 26 November 2018.
4. "11rl -- Language according to age and sex by region, 1990-2023". Statistics Finland .