Finnish economy plummeted around 5% in the second quarter

The Finnish economy continued in free fall in June amid the coronavirus pandemic.

In the absence of detailed data of the national accounts (they will be published on 28 August), the preliminary results of the Trend Indicator of Output estimates a year-on-year collapse of close to 5% of the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) in the second quarter of 2020. And a similar decrease of the production occurred in June.

According to Statistics Finland, the output of the national economy, adjusted for working days, fell by 4.8% in June from one year back. However, seasonally adjusted output in June rose by 0.9% from the month before.

According to revised data, working-day adjusted output fell in May 2020 by 5.6% (previously the estimated fall was -5.5%) from last year’s May.

Source: Statistics Finland.

Agricultural production grew

Working day adjusted primary production grew by around 4%. Secondary production decreased by about 6% and services by around 5% from June 2019.

Primary production refers to agriculture, hunting, forestry and fishing. Secondary production includes manufacturing and construction. Services comprise trade, hotel and restaurant activities, transport and business activities, as well as real estate, renting and research services, financial intermediation and insurance, and public services.

GDP and employment fell

According to Statistics Finland, GDP and employment are estimated to have fallen in the second quarter of 2020

According to the series adjusted for working days, GDP was 4.9% lower than in the corresponding quarter of the year before. It is estimated that the number of the employed has decreased by around 3.2% from one year ago.

Seasonally adjusted GDP is estimated to have fallen by around 3.2% from the previous quarter.

Adjusted for working days, the number of hours worked has decreased by around 7.6 per cent from the corresponding quarter of one year ago.