Finnish industry started the year with better results, in terms of production, and avoided the falls suffered by other sectors such as tourism or car sales.
According to Statistics Finland, seasonally adjusted industrial output grew by 1% in January from the month before and 0.9% compared to January 2020. And that year-on-year improvement happened despite the fact that in January 2021 there were two fewer working days than in January 2020.
By industry
Examined by main industry, seasonally adjusted industrial output decreased in January in nearly all industries. Output decreased most in the industry of mining and quarrying, by 9.1% from the previous month. The decrease compared to December was 3.9% in the chemical industry and 0.6% in the food industry. Only two main industries had slightly more output than in the previous month. Output in the metal industry went up by 1.5%, and in the industry of electricity, gas, steam and air conditioning supply by 0.3%.
Compared to one year ago, output grew most in electricity, gas, steam and air conditioning supply, by 4.5%, and in the electrical and electronic industry, by 3.3%. In the food industry, output decreased by 2.5% and in the metal industry by 1.8% compared with January 2020.
New orders in manufacturing fell
According to Statistics Finland, the value of new orders in manufacturing was 6.3% lower in January 2021 than twelve months earlier.
Enterprises received more orders than twelve months ago in January in the chemical industry, where orders increased by 17.1% year-on-year.
In other manufacturing sub-industries orders declined. In the industry of the manufacture of paper and paper board products, orders declined by 9.8% and in the metal industry by 10% year-on-year.
