Economy - overview:
Finland has a highly industrialized, largely free-market economy, with per capita output roughly that of the UK, France, Germany, and Italy. Its key economic sector is manufacturing - principally the wood, metals, engineering, telecommunications, and electronics industries. Trade is important, with exports equaling one-third of GDP. Except for timber and several minerals, Finland depends on imports of raw materials, energy, and some components for manufactured goods. Because of the climate, agricultural development is limited to maintaining self-sufficiency in basic products. Forestry, an important export earner, provides a secondary occupation for the rural population. Rapidly increasing integration with Western Europe - Finland was one of the 12 countries joining the European Economic and Monetary Union (EMU) - will dominate the economic picture over the next several years. Growth in 2003 was held back by the global slowdown but will pick up in 2004 provided the world economy suffers no further blows.
GDP:
purchasing power parity - $141.7 billion (2003 est.)
GDP - real growth rate:
1.5% (2003 est.)
GDP - per capita:
purchasing power parity - $27,300 (2003 est.)
GDP - composition by sector:
agriculture: 3.1%
industry: 29.4%
services: 67.5% (2003 est.)
Population below poverty line:
NA%
Household income or consumption by percentage share:
lowest 10%: 4.2%
highest 10%: 21.6% (1991)
Distribution of family income - Gini index:
25.6 (1991)
Inflation rate (consumer prices):
1.1% (2003 est.)
Labor force:
2.6 million (2000 est.)
Labor force - by occupation:
public services 32%, industry 22%, commerce 14%, finance, insurance, and business services 10%, agriculture and forestry 8%, transport and communications 8%, construction 6%
Unemployment rate:
9.2% (2003 est.)
Budget:
revenues: $36.1 billion
expenditures: $31 billion, including capital expenditures of $NA (2000 est.)
Industries:
metal products, electronics, shipbuilding, pulp and paper, copper refining, foodstuffs, chemicals, textiles, clothing
Industrial production growth rate:
0.7% (2003 est.)
Electricity - production:
71.2 billion kWh (2001)
Electricity - production by source:
fossil fuel: 39%
hydro: 18.7%
other: 11.8% (2001)
nuclear: 30.4%
Electricity - consumption:
76.18 billion kWh (2001)
Electricity - exports:
1.81 billion kWh (2001)
Electricity - imports:
11.77 billion kWh (2001)
Oil - production:
0 bbl/day (2001 est.)
Oil - consumption:
211,400 bbl/day (2001 est.)
Oil - exports:
101,000 bbl/day (2001)
Oil - imports:
318,300 bbl/day (2001)
Natural gas - production:
0 cu m (2001 est.)
Natural gas - consumption:
4.557 billion cu m (2001 est.)
Natural gas - exports:
0 cu m (2001 est.)
Natural gas - imports:
4.567 billion cu m (2001 est.)
Agriculture - products:
barley, wheat, sugar beets, potatoes; dairy cattle; fish
Exports:
$54.28 billion f.o.b. (2003 est.)
Exports - commodities:
machinery and equipment, chemicals, metals; timber, paper, pulp (1999)
Exports - partners:
Germany 11.8%, UK 9.6%, US 9%, Sweden 8.5%, Russia 6.6%, Netherlands 4.6%, France 4.5% (2002)
Imports:
$37.35 billion f.o.b. (2003 est.)
Imports - commodities:
foodstuffs, petroleum and petroleum products, chemicals, transport equipment, iron and steel, machinery, textile yarn and fabrics, grains (1999)
Imports - partners:
Germany 14.5%, Sweden 10.9%, Russia 9.9%, UK 5.7%, France 4.3%, Denmark 4.2% (2002)
Debt - external:
$30 billion (December 1993)
Economic aid - donor:
ODA, $379 million (2001)
Currency:
euro (EUR)
note: on 1 January 1999, the European Monetary Union introduced the euro as a common currency to be used by financial institutions of member countries; on 1 January 2002, the euro became the sole currency for everyday transactions within the member countries
Currency code:
EUR
Exchange rates:
euros per US dollar - 0.89 (2003), 1.06 (2002), 1.12 (2001), 1.09 (2000), 0.94 (1999)
Fiscal year:
calendar year
