Finland: Monthly economic activity dips in May
Economic activity dropped 0.2% month on month in seasonally-adjusted terms in May (April: +0.5% mom). The figure was largely due to a deterioration in the primary sector—which includes the agriculture, hunting, forestry and fishing subsectors. In contrast, activity in the secondary sector fell at a more moderate pace.
On an annual basis, economic activity rose 2.5% in May, which was below April’s 4.2% expansion and marking the weakest result since November 2021. Consequently, the trend pointed down, with the annual average growth of economic activity coming in at 3.8%, down from April’s 4.2%.
Growth should have flatlined in the second quarter due to rising consumer and producer prices, supply shocks disrupting industrial activity and the loss of trade with Russia—Finland’s fifth-largest export market. Nevertheless, conditions should improve in the third quarter, owing to Finland’s diversified sourcing of raw materials formerly imported from Russia and elevated household savings curbing the impact of rising inflation. That said, growing uncertainty regarding the global economic outlook poses a major risk to Finland’s growth prospects.