Lahti is growing as a multilingual city

Lahti is home to approximately 11,000 foreign-language speakers, representing nine per cent of the population. Foreign-language speakers refer to those who speak a language other than Finnish, Swedish, or Sami as their native language.

The largest language groups in Lahti are currently Russian, Ukrainian, Arabic, Estonian, and Kurdish. In addition to these, the city is home to people from all over the world, each with their own language, culture, and way of life.

The population growth of Finland as a whole is mainly dependent on immigration. Without immigrants with a foreign background, the population of Lahti would also have started to decline.

The proportion of foreign and foreign-language students in Lahti has grown faster than in the rest of the country in recent years. Among university students in Lahti, they already accounted for almost 36 per cent in 2023. This fall, a large number of students from abroad arrived at LAB University of Applied Sciences and LUT University, bringing with them their spouses and partners, for a total of about 750 new residents.

Hearing a foreign language spoken on the street can evoke a variety of feelings in Finns: curiosity, interest, confusion, or even discomfort. The reaction depends on how accustomed the person is to a multilingual environment and what kind of relationship they have with diversity in general. For many, foreign languages are a positive sign of the city’s growth, internationalisation, and diversity.  

The International House Lahti service offers support and advice to foreign-language immigrants. The aim is to help newcomers integrate and settle in Lahti. The service also promotes international recruitment and strengthens the growth of organisations through internationalisation.

International House Lahti also offers support to employers seeking international labour and growth through internationalisation.

Text: Anu-Liisa Rönkä
This article was originally published in Finnish in Kaupunkilainen magazine 1/25