Thus, while among Finland’s Estonian population the employment population ratio, at 66%, is less than four percentage points below that of Finnish citizens, among the Russian, Iraqi, Somali and Afghan population conversely, employment population ratios are substantially lower, standing at 37, 12, 11 and 15% respectively. However, as the number of migrants from Iraq, Somalia and Afghanistan continues to grow, efforts to improve their labour market integration is becoming an increasingly pressing concern. This represented a substantial increase in the number of asylum requests compared to the preceding years, during which it had hovered between three and four thousand. The country has been grappling with the implications of these numbers, both in terms of meeting the immediate needs regarding housing and initial settlement, and in terms of long-term integration into the Finnish labour market and society. Of the asylum decisions made in 2016 in Finland, only 27 % were positive, rising to 40% in 2017.