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In the last quarter of 1998, Finland's gross domestic product grew by 3.9 per cent compared to the corresponding quarter in 1997. The rate of growth moderated in the second quarter of 1998 and remained steady for the rest of the year. GDP increased by barely seven per cent in the first, four-and-a-half per cent in the second, and nearly four per cent in the third quarter of the year, as indicated by the preliminary data on National Accounts compiled by Statistics Finland.
According to revised calculations, the amount of GDP for the whole of 1998 grew by 4.7 per cent. Nominal GDP amounted to FIM 676 billion.
Private final consumption increased by 5.7 per cent in the fourth quarter of 1998. Purchases of durable consumer goods increased the most and car sales, in particular, were brisk. Investments in machinery and equipment grew by good 9 per cent and those in construction by over 7 per cent in the last quarter of 1998.
In the October-December period, total output in manufacturing grew by 5.4 per cent. Output in the metal industry went up by over 17 per cent due to rapid growth in the electrical and electronics industry. In contrast, output in the wood and paper industry contracted by nearly 5 per cent from a year back in the same time period. Output in both construction and trade grew by approximately 7 per cent. Output in agriculture and forestry increased by good one per cent in the last quarter of the year.
The wages and salaries bill of the national economy grew by 8.5 per cent in the October-December period. The operating surplus contracted by 5.7 per cent. In last year's last quarter national income grew nominally by 6.5 per cent. In the whole of 1998 national income went up by nearly 8 per cent.
Source: National Accounts 1998, 4th quarter (The statistics are based on the revised European System of Accounts, ESA 1995). Statistics Finland