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
Population5,635,971 (18 April 2025)
GDP
  • $319.99 billion (nominal, 2025)
  • $375.34 billion (PPP, 2025)
GDP rank
GDP growth
  • 2.1% (2022)
  • 0.0% (2023f)
  • -0.5% (2024f)
GDP per capita
  • $57,181 (nominal, 2025)
  • $67,077 (PPP, 2025)
GDP per capita rank
GDP by sector
1.6% (2022 est.)
Population below poverty line
15.8% at risk of poverty or social exclusion (AROPE, 2023)
26.6 low (2023)
87 out of 100 points (2023) (2nd)
Labour force
  • 2,774,226 (2021)
  • 78.2% employment rate (2023)
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
  • 9.2% (January 2025)
  • 20.6% youth unemployment rate (July 2020; 15 to 24 year-olds)
Average gross salary
€4,408 monthly (2024)
€3,073 monthly (2024)
Main industries
metals and metal products, electronics, machinery and scientific instruments, shipbuilding, pulp and paper, foodstuffs, chemicals, textiles, clothing
External
Exports€98.47 billion (2021 est.)
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.)
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.)
  • Abroad: $185.6 billion (31 December 2017 est.)
$1.806 billion (2017 est.)
$150.6 billion (31 December 2016 est.)
Public finances
  • 81,6% of GDP (2024)
  • €142.507 billion (2019)
$10.51 billion (31 December 2017 est.)
  • −€2.7 billion (2019)
  • −1.1% of GDP (2019)
Revenues52.2% of GDP (2019)
Expenses53.3% of GDP (2019)
Economic aid
AAA (Domestic)
AAA (Foreign)
AA+ (T&C Assessment)
(Standard & Poor's)
Scope:
AA+
Outlook: Stable
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 the primary sector at 2.9%. Among OECD nations, Finland has a highly efficient and strong social security system; social expenditure stood at roughly 29% of GDP.

Finland's key economic sector is manufacturing. The largest industries 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.

In a 2004 OECD comparison, high-technology manufacturing in Finland ranked second largest in the world, after Ireland. Investment was below the expected levels. 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. 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.

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. The largest trade flows are with Germany, Russia, Sweden, the United Kingdom, the United States, the Netherlands and China. 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.