Cranes, cargo ships and shipping containers at the Port of Vuosaari in Helsinki on 19 February 2024. The volume of Finland’s gross domestic product decreased by 0.7 per cent year-on-year in the final quarter of 2023, according to Statistics Finland. (Markku Ulander – Lehtikuva)
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THE VOLUME of Finnish gross domestic product decreased by 0.7 per cent quarter-on-quarter between October and December, according to data released on Thursday by Statistics Finland.
Fourth-quarter gross domestic product, the data reveal, decreased by 1.8 per cent year-on-year when adjusted for working days, whereas full-year gross domestic product decreased by 1.0 per cent year-on-year.
The economic data are more muted than expected and cast doubt over the 0.7-per-cent growth forecast made for this year by the Ministry of Finance, analysed Jukka Appelqvist, the chief economist at Finland Chamber of Commerce.
“GDP fell at the end of the year below the peak witnessed before the start of the coronavirus pandemic in 2019. We’ve again had more than four years without growth,” he highlighted on X on Thursday.
The Finnish economy slipped into recession in the second half of 2023, according to Statistics Finland.
Helsingin Sanomat reported that output fell sharply especially in the electrical and electronics sector, the volume of value added falling by almost 19 per cent year-on-year between October and December. In both the construction and forest industries, the volume of value added decreased by nearly 10 per cent from the corresponding period in 2022.
Statistics Finland pointed out that residential construction has been decreasing especially rapidly.
When examining the full year, the metal industry and energy, water and waste management industry were the only to grow from 2022.
While retail sectors contracted sharply in the early parts of last year, they have since rebounded and experienced varying degrees of growth. The restaurant and accommodation sector, by contrast, enjoyed a solid start to the year but has since been on decline, growing compared to the previous year.
Aleksi Teivainen – HT
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Source: www.helsinkitimes.fi
