Finnish Exports Doing Well

In March, Finland recorded strong growth in goods exports. For the first quarter Finnish goods exports came in strong.

Demand has bolstered in the eurozone and outside the EU. The value of Finnish goods exports were up 17% in March and in the first quarter on a year-on-year basis. The seasonally adjusted first quarter growth is estimated to be one of the strongest export quarters since the end of 2010, noted Nordea Bank, Econotimes reported.

The release from the customs implies that, unlike January, data for March was not stimulated by any single extraordinary item. Rather, it seems that export growth was quite widespread with robust support from electro-technical products, steel and refined oil products. Geographically, exports to the eurozone and outside the EU were strong.

The latter was stimulated by China and the US. Prices of exports were up 5% in the first quarter on a year-onyear basis. This is a huge change from the year ago when prices dropped 4%. Thus, prices had a major role to play here.

Even so, the volumes of export have grown significantly too. Volume growth is roughly estimated to have come in at about 11%, stated Nordea Bank. This is quite a sign of a stronger economic growth going forward, the bank said.

Consumers in Finland are feeling better about future economic prospects now than in many years, Statistics Finland figures show.

Over half of survey respondents said they believe that Finland’s economic situation will improve in the next year.

Only one in ten people said they think things will only get worse. These recent figures show consumer optimism in Finland’s economy at its highest since 2010. Belief in decreasing unemployment has not been this strong in a whole decade, the agency said.