Finland: Economic activity drops at sharpest rate in over a decade in April
Economic activity fell 7.9% year-on-year in working-day adjusted terms in April, worsening from March’s downwardly-revised 5.7% decrease (previously reported: -2.7% year-on-year) and marking the sharpest fall since November 2009.
April’s downturn was driven by shrinking output in the services sector, which contracted at a markedly faster pace than in the month prior. Meanwhile, both the secondary—which includes manufacturing and construction—and primary sector—encapsulating agriculture, forestry and fishing sub-sectors—contracted at a softer albeit still sharp pace than in March.
On a seasonally-adjusted monthly basis, decreased 2.1% in April, which marked an improvement from March’s revised 5.0% fall (previously reported: -1.7% month-on-month). Meanwhile, annual average activity shrank 0.2% in April (March: +0.6%), the first contraction since October 2015 and indicating a worsening trend in the sector.