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How Finland's international trade faced the crises of the 2020s

review

The corona pandemic, Russian war of aggression and rise in inflation that have shaken the world in the 2020s have had a major impact on the global economy. Finland's international trade has also had to adapt to concurrent crises. According to Statistics Finland, travel restrictions due to the coronavirus caused the demand for both travel and transport services to drop abruptly. In challenging times, Finland's services account has been supported by ICT services, whose share of service exports is over one-third.

The value of service imports was EUR 33 billion in the last quarter of 2019. Imports also reached rock bottom in the first quarter of 2021 when the value of imports was EUR 28 billion. The drop was 16 per cent. As international trade in services turned to growth, exports rose to EUR 33 billion and imports to EUR 41 billion by the first quarter of 2023. At the same time, the balance sheet showed a deficit of EUR 7 billion. As regards goods, exports amounted to EUR 90 billion, imports to EUR 87 billion and the balance sheet showed a surplus of EUR 2.5 billion in the first quarter of 2023. In ten years, from the first quarter of 2013 to the first quarter of 2023, the share of exports of services in total exports grew by three percentage points, rising to 27 per cent. At the same time, the level of exports of services rose from EUR 19 billion to EUR 33 billion. Over the same period, the share of services in total imports rose by two percentage points, from 30 to 32 per cent. The level of service imports increased from EUR 23.3 billion to EUR 38.4 billion.

Future releases

Referencing instructions

Official Statistics of Finland (OSF): International trade in goods and services [online publication].
Reference period: 30.3.2023. ISSN=2343-4244. Helsinki: Statistics Finland [Referenced: 3.6.2026].
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Related topics

National economy

Contact information

Service email
globalisaatio.tilastot@stat.fi

Inquiries primarily

Juho Keva
Senior Statistician
029 551 3601

Other experts

Risto Sippola
Senior Statistician
029 551 3383
Joonas Pohja
Senior Statistician
029 551 3898

Head of Department in charge

Katri Kaaja
Head of Department in charge
029 551 3488