Economy of Finland

Economy of Finland
A panoramic view over the southernmost districts of Helsinki from Hotel Torni. The Helsinki Old Church and its surrounding park are seen in the foreground, while the towers of St. John's Church (near centre) and Mikael Agricola Church (right) can be seen in the middle distance, backdropped by the Gulf of Finland.
CurrencyEuro (EUR, €)
calendar year
Trade organisations
EU, WTO and OECD
Country group
Statistics
Population5,550,066 (1 March 2023)[3]
GDP
  • $302 billion (nominal, 2023)[4]
  • $338 billion (PPP, 2023)[4]
GDP rank
GDP growth
  • 2.1% (2022)[5]
  • 0.0% (2023f)[5]
  • 1.3% (2024f)[5]
GDP per capita
  • $54,351 (nominal, 2023)[4]
  • $60,897 (PPP, 2023)[4]
GDP per capita rank
GDP by sector
1.6% (2022 est.)[7]
Population below poverty line
15.8% at risk of poverty or social exclusion (AROPE, 2023)[8]
26.6 low (2023)[9]
Increase 87 out of 100 points (2023)[12] (2nd)
Labour force
  • 2,774,226 (2021)[13]
  • Decrease 78.2% employment rate (2023)[14]
Labour force by occupation
  • Agriculture and forestry 1.4%
  • Industry 10.5%
  • Construction 10.1%
  • Wholesales and retail trade 21.3%
  • Finance, insurance and professional and business services 20.3%
  • Transport and communications 14.9%
  • Community social and personal services 21.5%
  • (2017 est.)
Unemployment
  • 7.6% (September 2020)[15]
  • 20.6% youth unemployment rate (July 2020; 15 to 24 year-olds)[16]
Average gross salary
€3,974 monthly (2023)
€2,366 monthly (2023)
Main industries
metals and metal products, electronics, machinery and scientific instruments, shipbuilding, pulp and paper, foodstuffs, chemicals, textiles, clothing[6]
External
Exports€98.47 billion (2021 est.)[17]
Export goods
electrical and optical equipment, machinery, transport equipment, paper and pulp, chemicals, basic metals; timber
Main export partners
Imports€97.88 billion (2021 est.)[17]
Import goods
foodstuffs, petroleum and petroleum products, chemicals, transport equipment, iron and steel, machinery, computers, electronic industry products, textile yarn and fabrics, grains
Main import partners
FDI stock
  • $135.2 billion (31 December 2017 est.)[6]
  • Abroad: $185.6 billion (31 December 2017 est.)[6]
$1.806 billion (2017 est.)[6]
$150.6 billion (31 December 2016 est.)[6]
Public finances
  • 69.2% of GDP (2020)[19]
  • €142.507 billion (2019)[19]
  • −€2.7 billion (2019)[19]
  • −1.1% of GDP (2019)[19]
Revenues52.2% of GDP (2019)[19]
Expenses53.3% of GDP (2019)[19]
Economic aid
AAA (Domestic)
AAA (Foreign)
AA+ (T&C Assessment)
(Standard & Poor's)[21]
Scope:[22]
AA+
Outlook: Stable
$10.51 billion (31 December 2017 est.)[6]
All values, unless otherwise stated, are in US dollars.

The economy of Finland is a highly industrialised, mixed economy with a per capita output similar to that of western European economies such as France, Germany, and the United Kingdom. The largest sector of Finland's economy is its service sector, which contributes 72.7% to the country's gross domestic product (GDP); followed by manufacturing and refining at 31.4%; and concluded with the country's primary sector at 2.9%.[23][24] Among OECD nations, Finland has a highly efficient and strong social security system; social expenditure stood at roughly 29% of GDP.[25][26][27]

Finland's key economic sector is manufacturing. The largest industries[28] are electronics (21.6% - very old data), machinery, vehicles and other engineered metal products (21.1%), forest industry (13.1%), and chemicals (10.9%). Finland has timber and several mineral and freshwater resources. Forestry, paper factories, and the agricultural sector (on which taxpayers spend around 2 billion euro annually) are politically sensitive to rural residents. The Helsinki metropolitan area generates around a third of GDP.[29]

In a 2004 OECD comparison, high-technology manufacturing in Finland ranked second largest in the world, after Ireland. Investment was below the expected levels.[30] The overall short-term outlook was good and GDP growth has been above many of its peers in the European Union. Finland has the 4th largest knowledge economy in Europe, behind Sweden, Denmark and the UK.[31] The economy of Finland tops the ranking of the Global Information Technology 2014 report by the World Economic Forum for concerted output between the business sector, the scholarly production and the governmental assistance on information and communications technology.[32]

Aviapolis, Vantaa is one of the most significant growing economic areas in Finland.

Finland is highly integrated in the global economy, and international trade represents a third of the GDP. Trade with the European Union represents 60% of the country's total trade.[33] The largest trade flows are with Germany, Russia, Sweden, the United Kingdom, the United States, the Netherlands and China.[33] The trade policy is managed by the European Union, where Finland has traditionally been among the free trade supporters, except for agriculture. Finland is the only Nordic country to have joined the Eurozone; Denmark and Sweden have retained their traditional currencies, whereas Iceland and Norway are not members of the EU at all. Finland has been ranked seventh in the Global Innovation Index of 2023, making it the seventh most innovative country down from 2nd in 2018.[34][35]

  1. ^ "World Economic Outlook Database, April 2024". IMF.org. International Monetary Fund.
  2. ^ "World Bank Country and Lending Groups". datahelpdesk.worldbank.org. World Bank. Retrieved 29 September 2019.
  3. ^ "Population on 1 January". ec.europa.eu/eurostat. Eurostat. Retrieved 26 April 2023.
  4. ^ a b c d "Report for Selected Countries and Subjects: April 2023". imf.org. International Monetary Fund.
  5. ^ a b c "The outlook is uncertain again amid financial sector turmoil, high inflation, ongoing effects of Russia's invasion of Ukraine, and three years of COVID". International Monetary Fund. 11 April 2023.
  6. ^ a b c d e f g "EUROPE :: FINLAND". CIA.gov. Central Intelligence Agency. Retrieved 4 May 2019.
  7. ^ "World Economic Outlook Database, October 2021". IMF.org. International Monetary Fund. Retrieved 6 February 2022.
  8. ^ "People at risk of poverty or social exclusion". ec.europa.eu. Eurostat.
  9. ^ "Gini coefficient of equivalised disposable income - EU-SILC survey". ec.europa.eu. Eurostat.
  10. ^ "Human Development Index (HDI)". hdr.undp.org. HDRO (Human Development Report Office) United Nations Development Programme. Retrieved 15 October 2022.
  11. ^ "Inequality-adjusted HDI (IHDI)". hdr.undp.org. UNDP. Retrieved 15 October 2022.
  12. ^ "Corruption Perceptions Index". Transparency International. 30 January 2024. Archived from the original on 30 January 2024. Retrieved 15 July 2024.
  13. ^ "Labor force, total - Finland". data.worldbank.org. World Bank & ILO. Retrieved 28 April 2021.
  14. ^ "Employment rate by sex, age group 20-64". ec.europa.eu/eurostat. Eurostat. Retrieved 20 July 2024.
  15. ^ "Unemployment by sex and age - monthly average". appsso.eurostat.ec.europa.eu. Eurostat. Retrieved 22 October 2020.
  16. ^ "Unemployment rate by age group". data.oecd.org. OECD. Retrieved 8 September 2020.
  17. ^ a b "Ulkomaankauppa".
  18. ^ a b Tilastokeskus. "Kauppa". tilastokeskus.fi. Retrieved 21 May 2018.
  19. ^ a b c d e f "Euro area and EU27 government deficit both at 0.6% of GDP" (PDF). ec.europa.eu/eurostat. Eurostat. Retrieved 28 April 2020.
  20. ^ "Archived copy" (PDF). Archived (PDF) from the original on 25 December 2017. Retrieved 25 December 2017.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  21. ^ "Sovereigns rating list". Standard & Poor's. Retrieved 26 May 2011.
  22. ^ "Scope affirms Finland's credit ratings at AA+ with Stable Outlook". Scope Ratings. Retrieved 15 March 2024.
  23. ^ "Finland in Figures – National Accounts". Statistics Finland. Retrieved 26 April 2007.
  24. ^ "Finland - Employment by economic sector | Statistic". Statista. Retrieved 2 May 2016.
  25. ^ Kenworthy, Lane (1999). "Do Social-Welfare Policies Reduce Poverty? A Cross-National Assessment" (PDF). Social Forces. 77 (3): 1119–1139. doi:10.2307/3005973. JSTOR 3005973. Archived (PDF) from the original on 10 August 2013.
  26. ^ Moller, Stephanie; Huber, Evelyne; Stephens, John D.; Bradley, David; Nielsen, François (2003). "Determinants of Relative Poverty in Advanced Capitalist Democracies". American Sociological Review. 68 (1): 22–51. doi:10.2307/3088901. JSTOR 3088901.
  27. ^ "Social Expenditure – Aggregated data". Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development.
  28. ^ "Finland in Figures – Manufacturing". Statistics Finland. Retrieved 26 April 2007.
  29. ^ "Finland - Area, population and GDP by region | Statistic". Statistics Finland. Retrieved 9 August 2016.
  30. ^ Finland Economy 2004, OECD
  31. ^ "Archived copy" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 3 June 2013. Retrieved 29 December 2017.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  32. ^ "The Global Information Technology Report 2014 : Rewards and Risks of Big Data" (PDF). 3.weforum.org. Retrieved 29 December 2017.
  33. ^ a b "Finnish Economy". Embassy of Finland. Archived from the original on 23 July 2011. Retrieved 7 May 2008.
  34. ^ WIPO (12 December 2023). Global Innovation Index 2023, 15th Edition. World Intellectual Property Organization. doi:10.34667/tind.46596. ISBN 9789280534320. Retrieved 17 October 2023.
  35. ^ Cornell University, INSEAD, and WIPO (2018): The Global Innovation Index 2018: Energizing the World with Innovation. Ithaca, Fontainebleau and Geneva