Finland: Strong secondary production supports acceleration in economic activity growth in February
Economic activity grew a working-day adjusted 2.4% in February compared to the same month last year, up from January’s revised growth of 2.2% (previously reported: +0.9% year-on-year), according to the latest monthly Trend Indicator of Output released by Statistics Finland. January’s growth was revised on the back of a large upward revision in services production, the most significant form of production in Finland.
The improved result in February came despite relatively weak year-on-year growth in services production, which slowed to a 1.6% expansion in February from 2.0% in January. Moreover, in February, there was a contraction in primary production—which includes the agriculture, hunting, forestry and fishing sectors—of 0.2% (January: -2.3% yoy). On the other hand, secondary production, which comprises the manufacturing and construction sectors, grew 3.0% (January: +3.1% yoy).
A month-on-month comparison showed that economic activity on a seasonally-adjusted basis contracted 0.1% February, marking a deterioration from January’s 0.7% growth. Annual average growth in economic activity fell from 2.9% in January to 2.8% in February.