Finland: Economic activity starts year on strong footing
Economic activity grew a working-day adjusted 1.7% in January from the same month a year earlier, up from December’s revised 0.6% reading (previously reported: +0.5% year-on-year), according to Statistics Finland’s latest monthly Trend Indicator of Output release.
The acceleration in January, which marked the fastest increase in four months, was driven by strong growth in the secondary—which includes manufacturing and construction—and services sectors, both of which gained considerable speed from the prior month’s readings. Contrastingly, the primary sector—encapsulating agriculture, forestry and fishing sub-sectors—posted a contraction for the fourth month running.
A month-on-month comparison showed that economic activity on a seasonally-adjusted basis expanded 0.9% in January, an 11-month high, having grown a revised 0.3% in December (previously reported: -0.4% yoy). Meanwhile, average annual growth in economic activity was marginally up at 1.3% in January from 1.2% in December.