Finnish economy still faltering

Yle News
Posted: Friday, December 4, 2015 at 14:25 — Last Updated: Tuesday, January 5, 2016 at 16:38
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A construction site in Finland. The number of building companies seeking bankruptcies remains high, though it has declined by nearly 20% since last year. (iStock) — A construction site in Finland. (iStock)

The latest preliminary data from Statistics Finland indicates that GDP declined by half a percentage point from July to September on the previous quarter.

Investments were down 4 percent from the corresponding period last year.

The latest figures from the state-sponsored number cruncher Statistics Finland shows continued dismal performance in the Finnish economy. According to preliminary data, the volume of Finland’s gross domestic product decreased in July to September by 0.5 percent from the previous quarter. Compared with the third quarter of 2014, GDP adjusted for working days contracted by 0.2 percent.

Revised data for the April-June quarter indicated that GDP grew by 0.4 percent on the previous quarter, 0.7 percent on the previous year.

Exports & imports

The volume of exports decreased during the third quarter by 0.7 percent on the previous three-month period, a drop of 3.4 percent on the previous year. Imports on the other hand grew by 1.8 percent on the previous quarter, but were still down 3.4 percent on the previous year.

The volume of private consumption grew by 0.8 percent from the previous quarter and by 1.4 per cent from twelve months back. Gross fixed capital formation, or investments, fell by 3.9 per cent year-on-year.

The report also mentions the latest Labour Force Survey, whereby the rate of unemployment for the July to September period was 8.4 percent. In the corresponding period of last year it stood at 7.5 percent.