International
support

In more than 90 countries

Finland

Key data Change country

Economic and political overview

Economic Overview

Despite being vulnerable to the international conjuncture, Finland is often cited as a model example for its economic performance, competitiveness and innovative success. However, following a contraction in 2023 (-1.2%), Finland's real GDP growth remained weak through 2024 and 2025. Goods exports dropped sharply in early 2024 due to prolonged port strikes, while private consumption stagnated amid rising unemployment and social benefit cuts. However, government consumption and net exports subsequently bolstered growth, with strong services exports and steady equipment investment signalling a gradual recovery. Despite these positive trends, real GDP rose by only 0.4% in 2024 and by 0.2% in 2025, held back by a persistently weak labour market (Statistics Finland). Real GDP is projected to grow by 0.8% in 2026 and 1.4% in 2027 according to the EU Commission (1.0% in 2026, as per the IMF), driven by domestic demand despite fiscal consolidation measures remaining in force.

In 2025, Finland's general government deficit stood at around 3.4% of GDP, after 3.7% in 2024, driven by higher government spending and weaker public revenue growth. Increased government consumption, social benefits, and rising interest expenses were key factors. On the revenue side, cuts in social security contributions and lower tax receipts due to the economic slowdown further widened the gap. The deficit is projected to widen to 4.5% of GDP in 2026 as defence and interest spending outpace the revenue benefits of consolidation. These measures include expenditure cuts and the full impact of the 2024 VAT rate hike alongside higher taxes on income and social contributions. By 2027, the deficit is expected to reach 4.6% of GDP, with expenditure growth continuing to outpace revenue recovery (data from the EU Commission). The general government debt-to-GDP ratio stood at 88.5% in 2025, with the increase attributed to the primary deficit within central government finances, as well as deficits in local governments. The projection indicates a continued upward trend in the general government debt-to-GDP ratio, reaching 91.2% in 2026 and further escalating to 93.1% next year (EU Commission). Subdued energy prices kept overall price increases contained at 1.8% in 2025 (from 1.2% one year earlier). Mostly due to the higher VAT rate, HICP inflation is forecast to increase to around 2.4% in 2026 before easing to 1.9% in 2027. High pension sector assets, totalling 94% of GDP at the end of March 2024, with over one-third held in public pension funds, remain a key rating strength. Alongside ongoing reform plans, they help alleviate the impact of a rapidly ageing population. Long-term projections suggest these assets will decline to about 75% of GDP by 2050 despite demographic challenges (Fitch Ratings).

Finland's GDP per capita – estimated at USD 57,181 (PPP) in 2025 by the IMF - is among the highest in the world and higher than the EU-27 average, allowing the country to offer a high living standard. The distribution of wealth is relatively balanced, although social inequalities have risen in recent years. Finland is the European country most impacted by an ageing population and the fall of its labour force, a phenomenon that weighs heavily on its public finances. Other challenges that the country will be facing are the decreasing productivity in traditional industries and the need for a reduction of high labour costs. Amid a declining vacancy rate, employment growth slowed to 0.8% in 2023, impacted by a sharp decline in the construction sector, while the unemployment rate rose to 7.2%. Employment contracted further in 2024 and 2025, reflecting weakened economic activity, particularly in manufacturing, construction, and professional services, though labour shortages persisted in sectors like healthcare. Despite gradually improving economic conditions, the unemployment rate rose to 9.7% in 2025 and is expected to reach 10.1% in 2026 before easing to 9.8% in 2027.

 
Main Indicators 2025 (E)2026 (E)2027 (E)2028 (E)2029 (E)
GDP (billions USD) 316.86337.67350.31361.68374.79
GDP (Constant Prices, Annual % Change) 0.21.01.51.41.4
GDP per Capita (USD) 56,46460,13062,37964,44966,835
General Government Balance (in % of GDP) -3.9-4.8-4.2-4.1-3.8
General Government Gross Debt (in % of GDP) 89.393.194.296.297.9
Inflation Rate (%) 1.82.52.22.02.0
Unemployment Rate (% of the Labour Force) 9.79.69.19.18.9
Current Account (billions USD) 3.980.481.351.922.95
Current Account (in % of GDP) 1.30.10.40.50.8

Source: IMF – World Economic Outlook Database , Latest data available

Country Risk

See the country risk analysis provided by La Coface.

 

+

Main Sectors of Industry

Agriculture represents 2.3% of the Finnish GDP and employs around 4% of the population (World Bank, latest data available). Due to the unfavourable climate, agricultural development is limited to the maintenance of a certain level of self-sufficiency in basic products. Moreover, Finland's accession to the EU has further accelerated the process of restructuring and downsizing of the agriculture sector. The country has around 42,000 farms with 8% of arable land (12% of the country’s arable land is destined for organic cultivation), while almost three-quarters of the land area is covered with forests (FAO). According to preliminary statistics, the area of agricultural land in use in 2025 was just under 2.3 million hectares, with around 2 million hectares dedicated to arable land. Nearly half of Finland's arable land is used for cereals, while about a third is allocated to fodder grass. Cereal production dominates, followed by milk production and animal husbandry. Dairy farming is the sub-sector that generates the largest turnover. According to figures from the Natural Resources Institute, there were a total of 39,825 agricultural and horticultural enterprises in Finland in 2025 of which 84% were family-run, 9% were farming syndicates, while farms owned by heirs and limited liability farms represented about 6%.

Industry accounts for 23.9% of GDP, employing roughly 22% of the active population. Forestry is a traditionally well-developed sector for Finland as the country exports a wide variety of goods, ranging from simple wooden products to high-tech tags, labels, paper, cardboard and packaging. Other key industrial sectors are metal production, mechanical engineering and electronic goods. Finland also specialises in exporting information and communication technologies and is among the countries that invest substantially in R&D (around 2.99% of its GDP, World Bank). Overall, manufacturing contributes 15% of GDP. According to Statistics Finland, the value of the sold output of the industry was around EUR 91.7 billion in 2025, ending two years of decline. The products of the chemical industry made up the largest share at EUR 18.2 billion, around 19.8% of the total, while fees from subcontracting production totalled about EUR 3.5 billion.

The services sector employs roughly three-quarters of the workforce and accounts for 61.4% of GDP. It is also responsible for generating the largest number of new businesses. The Finnish banking system is dominated by three major groups of deposit banks: OP Group, Nordea Bank Finland, and Danske Bank Plc Group. The information technology sector is growing at a fast pace, and so are the cleantech and biotechnology sectors. The latest data by Statistic Finland shows that in 2024 the volume of service industries grew by 2.8% compared to one year earlier.

 
Breakdown of Economic Activity By Sector Agriculture Industry Services
Employment By Sector (in % of Total Employment) 3.49 20.84 75.67
Value Added (in % of GDP) 2.61 22.52 62.09
Value Added (Annual % Change) 3.81 0.83 -0.13

Source: World Bank - Latest available data.

 
Monetary Indicators 20212022202320242025
Euro (EUR) - Average Annual Exchange Rate For 1 USD 0.850.950.920.920.88

Source: World Bank - Latest available data.

 

+

Foreign Trade

Finland is a highly industrialised country whose economy relies heavily on foreign trade, which represents 83% of its GDP in 2025 (World Bank). According to Comtrade data, Finland's main identified exports in 2025 were refined petroleum products (6.9%), coated paper and paperboard (4.1%), chemical wood pulp (3.3%), sawn wood (3.1%), ships (3.0%), and stainless steel (2.6%); while imports were led by crude oil (6.6%), motor cars (4.6%), computers (4.6%), refined petroleum (3.7%), and medicaments (2.3%).

In 2025, Sweden was Finland's largest export partner, with transport equipment and ships driving the growth of Finnish exports. The share of total exports reached 11.5%, and export value increased by 4.6%. The United States ranked as the second-largest export partner, with an 11% rise in export value, holding a share of 10.4%. Germany followed in third place, with export value falling by 9.8%, making up 9.9% of total exports. In 2025, Norway was the fourth-largest import partner, with a share of 7.0%. Imports from Germany decreased by 0.7%, while those from Sweden rose by 0.6%. These two countries remained the largest sources of imports (13.8% and 11.6% shares), followed by China, where import value declined by 5.5% (9.4% share), and the United States, with a 9.5% increase (5.5% share- data Finnish Customs).

Finland's trade balance had traditionally been positive in the past, but its performance deteriorated in the last decade, alternating slightly positive results with negative ones. In 2025, the total export of goods (at USD 84.0 billion, +7.7% y-o-y) was slightly below the total value of imports (USD 84.9 billion, +4.8% y-o-y); whereas exports of services stood at USD 43.6 billion (+3.9%) against almost USD 48.9 billion of import (with an annual increase of 3.2% - data by WTO). According to the latest figures from Finnish Customs, in 2025, the value of Finnish exports rose by 3.0%, totalling EUR 74.3 billion. Export volume grew by 3.8%, while export prices declined by 1.2% compared to 2024. Imports increased by 0.4%, with a 2.9% rise in volume and a 1.0% decline in prices, standing at EUR 75.2 billion.

 
Foreign Trade Values 20212022202320242025
Imports of Goods (million USD) 86,01397,32983,10280,98584,865
Exports of Goods (million USD) 81,99686,06982,56178,03784,045
Imports of Services (million USD) 36,82341,48345,67547,45849,876
Exports of Services (million USD) 34,38836,14436,89442,02845,502

Source: World Trade Organisation (WTO) ; Latest available data

Foreign Trade Indicators 20212022202320242025
Foreign Trade (in % of GDP) 79.894.685.583.583.4
Trade Balance (million USD) 2,583-3948,8356,4829,318
Trade Balance (Including Service) (million USD) 109-5,731521,0494,033
Imports of Goods and Services (Annual % Change) 7.09.3-6.8-0.81.7
Exports of Goods and Services (Annual % Change) 6.04.4-1.41.83.4
Imports of Goods and Services (in % of GDP) 39.948.342.741.541.1
Exports of Goods and Services (in % of GDP) 39.946.342.841.942.3

Source: World Bank ; Latest available data

Foreign Trade Forecasts 2026 (e)2027 (e)2028 (e)2029 (e)2030 (e)
Volume of exports of goods and services (Annual % change) 1.72.62.42.42.4
Volume of imports of goods and services (Annual % change) 4.23.23.23.03.0

Source: IMF, World Economic Outlook ; Latest available data

Note: (e) Estimated Data

 
International Economic Cooperation
Finland is a member of the following international economic organisations: ICC, European Economic Area, WTO, European Union, G9, IMF, OECD, among others. For the full list of economic and other international organisations in which participates Finland click here. International organisation membership of Finland is also outlined here.
Free Trade Agreements
The up-to-date list of Free Trade Agreements signed by Finland can be consulted here.
 

Main Partner Countries

Main Customers
(% of Exports)		 2025
Sweden 11.3%
United States 10.3%
Germany 9.8%
Netherlands 7.5%
China 4.3%
See More Countries 56.8%
Main Suppliers
(% of Imports)		 2025
Germany 13.3%
Sweden 11.5%
China 9.4%
Norway 6.9%
United States 5.5%
See More Countries 53.5%

Source: Comtrade, Latest Available Data

 

+

Political Outline

Current Political Leaders
President: Alexander Stubb  (since 1 March 2024)
Prime Minister: Petteri Orpo (since 20 June 2023)
Next Election Dates
Presidential: 27 January 2030
Parliament: April 2027
Main Political Parties
Finland has a multi-party system to ensure a single party does not have a chance to gain power alone. Parties work with each other to form coalition governments. The largest parties represented in the parliament following the latest elections include:

- National Coalition Party (KOK): centre-right, liberal conservatism, strongly pro-European. In the 2023 election, the party won 48 seats
- The Finns (PS): right-wing, nationalist. The party advocates for a more restrictive immigration policy and obtained 46 seats in the latest election
- Social Democratic Party (SDP): centre-left, social-democratic party that advocates for social justice, equality, and a strong safety net. It currently holds 43 seats in the parliament
- Centre Party (KESK): centre, wields political influence in smaller agrarian communities
- Green League (VIHR): centre, green politics, liberal
- Left Alliance (VAS): left-wing, social democratic
- Swedish People's Party (RKP): centre, represents the minority of Swedish speaking people in Finland
- Christian Democrats (KD): centre/centre-right
- Movement Now (Liike Nyt): liberal
- For Åland (ÅS): a political alliance of the main Åland parties.
Executive Power
The President of Finland is the Head of State, leader of foreign policy, and the commander-in-chief of the defence forces. He/she is directly elected by absolute majority for a six-year term, renewable once. The President appoints the Prime Minister. The main executive power lies in the Cabinet which is appointed and headed by the Prime Minister. Before the constitutional rewrite completed in 2000, the President enjoyed more power.
Legislative Power
Legislative power is vested in the Parliament of Finland (Eduskunta), with the Government holding limited rights to amend or extend legislation. It is composed of 200 deputies elected for four years by proportional representation. The President has the power of veto over parliamentary decisions although it can be overrun by the parliament.
 

+