Finland's Domestic Language Speakers Fall Below Five Million

Domestic language speakers fall below five million

The number of people speaking domestic languages has dropped below five million, according to preliminary population data released on Thursday by Statistics Finland, driven by demographic trends and changes in population records. Figures show that 4,999,717 residents spoke Finnish, Swedish or Sámi at the end of March, accounting for 88 per cent of the total population. The number fell by 6,772 during the first months of the year. The figure had remained above five million since 1992 and rea...