HELSINKI (AFP) - The number of asylum seekers to Finland more than doubled in the first half of this year, with many coming from Iraq and Somalia, immigration authorities said Wednesday.

From January to June, some 2,680 people applied for asylum in Finland, compared to 1,030 in the same period of 2008, according to Finnish Immigration Services statistics.

Around half of the asylum seekers came from war-torn Iraq and Somalia, with 850 and 640 refugees respectively.

But the number of applicants from Iraq has begun to slow in recent months.

In May, authorities said that due to improved security, those coming from northern or southern Iraq or Baghdad would no longer be granted a residence permit unless they have individual grounds to stay.

Individual reasons could include severe illness that cannot be treated in their home country.

"It is really difficult to forecast how the numbers will develop" during the second half of the year, immigration official Juha Similae told AFP.

Finland, whose 5.3 million population includes just 2.5 percent foreign nationals, faced soaring asylum seeker numbers last summer.

The boost was partly caused by decisions in some European countries, such as Sweden, the Netherlands, Britain and Norway, to send people back to Iraq.

Despite more staff, Finnish immigration authorities are struggling to process soaring numbers of applications and asylum seekers might have to wait up to two years for a decision on if they can stay.

"More resources are needed. We are interviewing people who arrived last autumn," Similae said.

"In the worst case an applicant might have to wait two years or even longer for a decision."