Finland: Economic activity drops at sharpest rate in over seven years in March
Economic activity fell 2.7% year-on-year in working-day adjusted terms in March, contrasting February’s revised 1.2% increase (previously reported: +1.0% year-on-year) and marking the sharpest fall since March 2013.
The broad-based decline was driven by shrinking output in both the secondary—which includes manufacturing and construction—and services sectors. Meanwhile, the primary sector—encapsulating agriculture, forestry and fishing sub-sectors—posted a seventh consecutive month of falling output.
On a seasonally-adjusted monthly basis, decreased 1.7% in March, which was below February’s revised 0.1% fall (previously reported: +0.4% month-on-month). The reading marked the worst result since January 2013. Meanwhile, annual average growth fell to 1.0% in March (February: +1.4%), signaling a worsening trend in the sector.