Migration flows by country of origin are of growing interest in the Nordic Region due to the recent unprecedented in-flows of migrants. There are also interesting differences between the Nordic countries with respect to the dominant countries of origin of migrants and the size of inflows.
Major migration inflows experienced by the Nordic countries in the first decade of the 2000s were substantially more limited with respect to the number of countries from which they originated when compared with the decade to follow. Finland had only one inflow, from Sweden. The countries of origin for the largest flows to Sweden were the neighbouring countries of Denmark and Poland, along with war-torn Iraq. For Norway, average annual inflows above 3000 people originated from the two nearby countries of Sweden and Poland, and were likely a result of Norway’s booming economy, and associated the labour market opportunities, during this decade. Major inflows to Denmark came from Germany, Norway, Poland, Sweden, UK and the U.S..