Finland is suffering from the crisis caused by the coronavirus, despite being one of the countries least affected by the health emergency. The biggest blow to the country is in economic terms, as the severe recession affecting all of Europe has also sunk Finnish GDP and exports more than expected.
In the first half of the year 2020, the value of Finnish exports decreased by 17.3% and the country has accumulated a trade deficit of 1.7 billion euros. Germany, Sweden and the United States, the main customers, have greatly reduced their acquisitions of Finnish products. Meanwhile, Finland's imports from China increased significantly.
The total value of Finnish exports of goods decreased by 15% year-on-year in June, according to the international trade in goods statistics provided by Finnish Customs. The value of Finnish exports in June was almost 4.5 billion euros. Export volumes decreased by 11.3% and export prices by 3.7% year-on-year.
Imports did not perform well either due to the fall in private consumption. The value of imports declined by 9.6% in June to almost 4.7 billion euros. Import prices decreased by 3% and import volumes by 4% compared to June 2019.
In January-June, the aggregated value of exports decreased by 17.3% and the value of imports by 12.2% compared with the corresponding period last year.
In June 2020, the trade balance showed a deficit of 209 million euros, while in June 2019 it had a surplus of 80 million euros.
In January-June 2020, the trade balance had a deficit of about 1.7 billion euros, while there was a deficit of 10 million euros in the corresponding period of 2019.
Finland's terms of trade (which show the ratio between export and import prices) also weakened in June year-on-year as export prices fell more than import prices.
Source: Finnish Customs
Machinery and forest industry
Exports of machinery and transport equipment declined by 7.5% in June. Exports of forest industry products diminished by 17%.
Exports of metals and metal products decreased by 28.5%. Exports of chemicals and related products declined by 5.6%. The value of exports of petroleum products declined by 49.6%. Exports of foodstuff increased by 9.1%, but exports of instruments and apparatus declined by 26%.
The value of imports of industrial supplies fell by 11.2%, but imports of capital goods remained at the level of the previous year in June.
The value of imports of fuels and lubricants diminished by 46.3%. Imports of transport equipment and parts decreased by 11.7%. Imports of consumer goods increased by 11.1% and of food and beverages by 3.9% in June.
Trading partners
Exports to EU countries fell by 13.6% and exports outside the EU by 16.5% in June. Imports from EU countries declined by 6.9% and from countries outside the EU by 13.5%.
Exports to all major trading partners decreased in June. Exports to Germany decreased by 17.4%, exports to Sweden by 10.3% and exports to the United States by 27.1%.
Imports from China increased by 34.9% and from the United States by 1.4%, but imports from other major import countries decreased in June. Imports from Germany decreased by 16.8% and imports from Sweden by 6.1%.
In January-June, exports to EU countries declined by 17.5% and to non-EU countries by 17.1%. During the same period imports from EU countries decreased by 10.9% and from outside the EU by 14.2%.
