Politics of Finland

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Republic of Finland

This article is part of a series on the

politics and government of
Finland

The politics of Finland take place within the framework of a parliamentary representative
democracy. Finland is a republic whose head of state is President Sauli Niinistö, who leads the
nation's foreign policy and is the supreme commander of the Finnish Defence
Forces.[1]Finland's head of government is the Prime Minister, who leads the
nation's executive branch, called the Finnish Government.[2] Legislative power is vested in
the Parliament of Finland (Finnish: Suomen eduskunta, Swedish: Finlands riksdag),[3] and the
Government has limited rights to amend or extend legislation. Because the Constitution of Finland
vests power to both the President and Government, the President has veto power over
parliamentary decisions, although this power can be overruled by a majority vote in the Parliament.[4]
The judiciary is independent of the executive and legislative branches. The judiciary consists of two
systems: regular courts and administrative courts. The judiciary's two systems are headed by
the Supreme Court and the Supreme Administrative Court, respectively. Administrative courts
process cases in which official decisions are contested. There is no constitutional court in Finland –
the constitutionality of a law can be contested only as applied to an individual court case.
The citizens of Finland enjoy many individual and political freedoms, and suffrage is universal at age
18; Finnish women became the first in the world to have unrestricted rights both to vote and to run
for public office.
The country's population is ethnically homogeneous with no sizable immigrant population. Few
tensions exist between the Finnish-speaking majority and the Swedish-speaking minority, although
in certain circles there is an unending debate about the status of the Swedish language.[clarification needed]
Finland's labor agreements are based on collective bargaining. Bargaining is highly centralized and
often the government participates to coordinate fiscal policy. Finland has universal validity of
collective labour agreements and often, but not always, the trade unions, employers, and the
Government reach a national income policy agreement. Significant Finnish trade unions
include SAK, STTK, AKAVA, and EK.[5]
The Economist Intelligence Unit has rated Finland a full democracy.[6]
Economy - overview: Finland has a highly industrialized, largely free-market
economy with per capita GDP almost as high as that of Austria and the
Netherlands and slightly above that of Germany and Belgium. Trade is
important, with exports accounting for over one-third of GDP in recent years.
The government is open to, and actively takes steps to attract, foreign direct
investment.

Finland is historically competitive in manufacturing - principally the wood,

metals, engineering, telecommunications, and electronics industries. Finland
excels in export of technology as well as promotion of startups in the
information and communications technology, gaming, cleantech, and
biotechnology sectors. Except for timber and several minerals, Finland
depends on imports of raw materials, energy, and some components for
manufactured goods. Because of the cold climate, agricultural development is
limited to maintaining self-sufficiency in basic products. Forestry, an important
export industry, provides a secondary occupation for the rural population.

Finland had been one of the best performing economies within the EU before
2009 and its banks and financial markets avoided the worst of global financial
crisis. However, the world slowdown hit exports and domestic demand hard in
that year, causing Finland’s economy to contract from 2012 to 2014. The
recession affected general government finances and the debt ratio. The
economy returned to growth in 2016, posting a 1.9% GDP increase before
growing 2.8% in 2017.
Finland's main challenges will be reducing high labor costs and boosting
demand for its exports. In June 2016, the government enacted a
Competitiveness Pact aimed at reducing labor costs, increasing hours
worked, and introducing more flexibility into the wage bargaining system. The
Government was also seeking to reform the health care system and social
services. In the long term, Finland must address a rapidly aging population
and decreasing productivity in traditional industries that threaten
competitiveness, fiscal sustainability, and economic growth.

Definition: This entry briefly describes the type of economy, including the
degree of market orientation, the level of economic development, the most
important natural resources, and the unique areas of specialization. It also
characterizes major economic events and policy changes in the most recent
12 months and may include a statement about one or two key future
macroeconomic trends.
Source: CIA World Factbook - This page was last updated on January 20, 2018
Judicial system of Finland
The courtroom of Raasepori District Court

Under the Constitution of Finland, everyone is entitled to have their case heard by a court or an
authority appropriately and without undue delay. This is achieved through the judicial system of
Finland.
The Finnish judicial system is mostly organized under the Ministry of Justice, and consists of[1]

 the independent courts of law and administrative courts

 the prosecution service
 the enforcement authorities, who see to the enforcement of judgments
 the prison service and the probation service, who see to the enforcement of custodial sentences,
and
 the Bar Association and the other avenues of legal aid.

Law of Finland
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The law of Finland is based on the civil law tradition, consisting mostly of statutory law promulgated by the Parliament of Finland.
The constitution of Finland, originally approved in 1919 and rewritten in 2000, has supreme authority and sets the most important
procedures for enacting and applying legislation. As in civil law systems in general, judicial decisions are not generally authoritative
and there is little judge-made law. Supreme Court decisions can be cited, but they are not actually binding.
As a member of the European Union, European Union law is in force in Finland, and Finland implements EU directives in its national
legislation. The Court of Justice of the European Union is the ultimate authority in matters in the competence of the European Union.
As in Sweden, administrative law is interpreted by a separate administrative court system. Besides law proper i.e. acts of parliament
(laki), permanent government regulations (asetus) form an important body of law. They can clarify and guide implementation, but not
contradict an act.

History[edit]
Finnish law and legal traditions are based on Swedish law and in a wider sense, on the Scandinavian and German
legal tradition, a subset of Roman law. The oldest law still practiced is Olaus Petri's instructions for judges from 1530,
although as instructions they are not binding. The oldest act still in force, in part, is the Swedish Civil Code of 1734.
Books of Court Procedure (oikeudenkäymiskaari), Trade (kauppakaari) and Construction (rakennuskaari) formally
remain in force; many of these acts have been overturned in Sweden. However, in practice, these have been slowly
eroded over the centuries, and many parts are no longer enforced, e.g. references to fines denominated in the
ancient currency of Swedish riksdaler.[1][2]
Due to transfer of sovereignty to Russia, a divergence from Swedish tradition begins from 1809. Important
codifications were made during Imperial Russian sovereignty, e.g. the Criminal Code was promulgated
by Czar Alexander III in 1889.[3] There was a Finnish parliament, the Diet of Finland, convened in 1809 and dissolved
in 1906. The Diet was actually active only from 1863; in 1809-1863 the country was governed by administrative
means only. Towards the end of the 19th century, the Imperial Russian government began restricting Finnish
autonomy, and often refused to give Royal Assent. The Diet was replaced by the modern Parliament of
Finland (eduskunta) in 1906. After independence in 1917, the Constitution of Finland was promulgated in 1919. The
constitution received numerous amendments, scattered over multiple different acts, over the 20th century. In 2000, a
rewritten, uniform version was promulgated to replace them.
Enacting laws[edit]
Acts of Parliament form the main body of the law. In the typical procedure, the Finnish
Government proposes a bill to the Parliament of Finland. When the act is amended and approved by
the Parliament, the act is submitted to the President of Finland for presidential assent. Once the
President signs the act, it becomes law. The President can exercise a right of veto, but the veto can
be overridden by the Parliament with a simple majority.
Decrees are based on an authorization for delegation stipulated in an act of parliament. Decrees can
be issued by the Finnish Government, President of Finland and individual ministeries. They are
enacted by the President in session with the Government (presidentin esittely).
The European Union can issue both Regulations, which immediately become law in the member
states, and Directives, which are implemented as Acts of Parliament by the Parliament of Finland.

Publication of laws[edit]
Finland does not have a single unified civil code, unlike e.g. France or Germany. All laws are
published in the official journal Suomen säädöskokoelma (the Statutes of Finland) when
promulgated. Most law is available from the online Finlex database, published by Edita Publishing
Oy, and in a two-volume book set Suomen laki, published by Talentum Media. These collections are
however not exhaustive.

Finland’s population grew by 4,789 in 2018, according to fresh population data released by state
number cruncher Statistics Finland on Friday.

The numbers show that the last time that population growth was as slow was in 1970. Over the past five years,
the number of people who speak Finnish, Swedish or Sámi as their native language fell by 36,000. At the same
time, the number of foreign-language speakers rose by roughly 103,000.
By the end of 2018, people over the age of 65 accounted for one-fifth of the entire population. The number of
residents under the age of 15 was 882,000 making the official population at the end of 2018 5,517,919.

The country’s dependency ratio was 60.8 percent. That means that the number of non-working age people was
60.8 percent of the number of people in the labour force. The last time that the dependency ration was higher
was in 1959.

The location with the highest number of children and elderly people versus the number of working-age people
was in Luhanka, central Finland, where the ratio was 106.1.

Meanwhile the Helsinki region had the lowest proportion of non-working age people to the size of the labour
force at 45.6.

Sources

Yle
Religion in Finland
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Religions in Finland (2018)[1]

Evangelical Lutheran Church of Finland (69.83%)

Orthodox Church (1.11%)

Other Christian (0.92%)

Other religions (0.75%)

Unaffiliated (27.39%)

The Cathedral of Turku is considered as the national shrine of Finland

Finland is a predominantly Christian nation where some 71.9% of the 5.5 million overall population
follow Christianity; the vast majority being members of the Evangelical Lutheran Church of
Finland (Protestant), 27.4% are unaffiliated, and 0.4% follow other religions
like Islam, Hinduism, Buddhism, Judaism, folk religion etc.[1]
There are presently two National churches (as opposed to State churches): the Evangelical Lutheran
Church of Finland (Protestant), which is the primary state religion representing 69.8% of the population by
the end of 2018[1], and the Finnish Orthodox Church, to which about 1.1 % of the population
belongs.[2][3][1] Those who officially belong to one of the two national churches have part of their taxes
turned over to their respective church.[4] There are also approximately 45,000 followers of Pentecostal
Christianity[5], and more than 12,000 Catholic Christians in Finland, along with Anglicans, and some
various Independent Christian communities. Prior to its Christianisation, beginning in the 11th
century, Finnish paganism was the country's primary religion.
The Muslim population in Finland is 2.7% of the total, with about 150,000 adherents in 2016.
Languages

Inari Sami language

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Inari Sámi

anarâškielâ

Native to Finland

Ethnicity Inari Sámi people

Native speakers 300 (2001 census)[1]

Language family Uralic

 Sámi
o Eastern
 Inari Sámi

Writing system Latin

Official status

Recognised minority Finland[2]

language in

Language codes

ISO 639-2 smn

ISO 639-3 smn

Glottolog inar1241 [3]

 Inari Sámi is 7 on this map.

Inari Sámi (anarâškielâ) is a Sámi language spoken by the Inari Sámi of Finland. It has
approximately 300 speakers, the majority of whom are middle-aged or older and live in the
municipality of Inari. According to the Sámi Parliament of Finland, 269 persons used Inari Sámi as
their first language. It is the only Sámi language that is spoken exclusively in Finland.[1] The language
is classified as being seriously endangered as few children learn it, although more and more children
are learning it in language nests.

Languages of Finland
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Languages of Finland

Official Finnish (1st: 94%, 2nd: 6%)

Swedish (1st: 5%, 2nd: 44%)

Minority officially recognized: Sami, Romani, Finnish Sign

Language, Karelian language

Immigrant Russian, Estonian

Foreign English (70%)

German (18%)
French (10%)[1]
 Signed Finnish Sign Language, Finland-Swedish Sign

Language

Keyboard layout QWERTY

Basic Finnish/Swedish

Finnish Multilingual

Source [2] (europa.eu)

The two main official languages of Finland are Finnish and Swedish. There are also several
official minority languages: three variants of Sami, Romani, Finnish Sign Language and Karelian.

Contents

 1Finnish
 2Sami languages
 3Karelian
 4Russian
 5Territorial bilingualism
 6Statistics
 7See also
 8References
 9External links
Finnish[edit]

Municipalities of Finland:

unilingually Finnish

bilingual with Finnish as majority language, Swedish as minority language

bilingual with Swedish as majority language, Finnish as minority language

unilingually Swedish

bilingual with Finnish as majority language, Sami as minority language

Main article: Finnish language

Finnish is the language of the majority, 89%Cite error: A <ref> tag is missing the
closing </ref> (see thehelp page). (92.4% in the Åland autonomous province), down from
14% at the beginning of the 20th century. In 2012, 44% of Finnish citizens with another registered
primary language than Swedish could hold a conversation in this language.[2] Swedish is a North
Germanic language, closely related to Norwegian and Danish. As a subbranch of Indo-European, it
is also closely related to other Germanic languages such as German, Dutch, and English.
Swedish was the language of the administration until the late 19th century. Today it is one of the two
main official languages, with a position equal to Finnish in most legislation, though the working
language in most governmental bodies is Finnish. Both Finnish and Swedish are compulsory
subjects in school with an exception for children with a third language as their native language. A
successfully completed language test is a prerequisite for governmental offices where a university
degree is required.
The four largest Swedish-speaking communities in Finland, in absolute numbers, are those
of Helsinki, Espoo, Porvoo and Vaasa, where they constitute significant minorities. Helsinki, the
capital, had a Swedish-speaking majority until late in the 19th century. Currently 5.9% [3] of the
population of Helsinki are native Swedish speakers and 15% are native speakers of languages other
than Finnish and Swedish.[4]
The Swedish dialects spoken in Finland mainland are known as Finland-Swedish. There is a rich
Finland-Swedish literature, including authors such as Tove Jansson, Johan Ludvig Runeberg, Edith
Södergran and Zacharias Topelius. Runeberg is considered Finland's national poet and wrote the
national anthem, "Vårt land", which was only later translated to Finnish.

Sami languages[edit]
The Sami languages are a group of related languages spoken across Lapland. They are distantly
related to Finnish. The three Sami languages spoken in Finland, Northern Sami, Inari
Sami and Skolt Sami, have a combined native speaker population of roughly 1,800.[5]

Karelian[edit]
Up to World War II, Karelian was spoken in the historical Border-Karelian region on the northern
shore of Lake Ladoga. After the war, immigrant Karelians were settled all over Finland. In 2001 the
Karelian Language Society estimated that the language is understood by 11,000–12,000 people in
Finland, most of whom are elderly. A more recent estimate is that the size of the language
community is 30,000. [6]
Karelian was recognized in a regulation by the President in November 2009, in accordance with
the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages.[7]

Russian[edit]
The Russian language is the third most spoken native language in Finland (1%)[8] The Russian
language has no official status in Finland, though historically it served as the third co-official
language with Finnish and Swedish for a relatively brief period between 1900 and 1917.

Territorial bilingualism[edit]
All municipalities outside Åland where both official languages are spoken by either at least 8% of the
population or at least 3,000 people are considered bilingual. Swedish reaches these criteria in 59 out
of 336 municipalities located in Åland (where this does not matter) and the coastal areas
of Ostrobothnia region, Southwest Finland (especially in Åbolandoutside Turku) and Uusimaa.<
Outside these areas there are some towns with significant Swedish-speaking minorities not reaching
the criteria. Thus the inland is officially unilingually Finnish-speaking. Finnish reaches the criteria
everywhere but in Åland and in three municipalities in the Ostrobothnia region, which is also the
only region on the Finnish mainland with a Swedish-speaking majority (52% to 46%).
The Sami languages have an official status in the northernmost Finland,
in Utsjoki, Inari, Enontekiö and part of Sodankylä, regardless of proportion of speakers.
In the bilingual municipalities signs are in both languages, important documents are translated and
authorities have to be able to serve in both languages. Authorities of the central administration have
to serve the public in both official languages, regardless of location, and in Sami in certain
circumstances.
Places often have different names in Finnish and in Swedish, both names being equally official as
name of the town. For a list, see Names of places in Finland in Finnish and in Swedish.
Statistics[edit]

Knowledge of foreign languagesand Swedish as second language in Finland, in percent of the adult population,
2005.

Knowledge of the English language in Finland, 2005. According to the Eurobarometer [1]: 63% of the
respondents indicated that they know English well enough to have a conversation. Of these 23% (per cent, not
percentage points) reported a very good knowledge of the language whereas 34% had a good knowledge and
43% basic English skills.

Proportions of main languages in Finland 2007.

Number of speakers of the largest unofficial languages in Finland, 2007.

 Residents of Finland by native language (2018)[9]

No. of speakers
Language Percentage
(>5,000)

Finnish 4,835,778 87.62%

Swedish 288,400 5.24%

Russian 79,225 1.44%

Estonian 49,691 0.90%

Arabic 29,462 0.54%

Somali 20,944 0.38%

English 20,713 0.38%

Kurdish 14,054 0.26%

Persian 13,017 0.24%

Chinese 12,407 0.23%

Albanian 10,990 0.20%

Vietnamese 10,440 0.19%

Thai 9,763 0.18%

Turkish 8,127 0.15%

Spanish 8,099 0.15%

German 6,317 0.11%

Polish 5,441 0.10%

Sami 1,995 0.04%

Other 93,056 1.69%

Residents of Finland by language family (2018)[10]

Family No. of speakers Percentage

Finno-Ugric 4,890,455 88.61%

Germanic 318,714 5.79%

Slavic 98,563 1.79%

Afroasiatic 54,107 0.98%

Indo-Iranian 44,074 0.80%

Romance 23,020 0.42%

Sino-Tibetan 13,085 0.24%

Austroasiatic 10,787 0.20%

Turkic 10,544 0.19%

Tai 9,819 0.18%

Niger-Congo 8,326 0.15%

Austronesian 4,879 0.09%

Baltic 3,553 0.06%

Dravidian 3,551 0.06%

Greek, Latin 1,644 0.03%

Japonic 1,515 0.03%

Caucasian 890 0.02%

Other Indo-European 11,319 0.21%

Other Asian 900 0.02%

Other 7,320 0.13%

Swedish[edit]

Map showing the Swedish speaking areas of Scandinavia and Finland

The Kingdom of Sweden is a nation-state for the Swedish people,[citation needed] and as such, their
national language is held in very high regard. Of Sweden's roughly ten million people, almost all
speak Swedish as at least a second language, and the majority as a first language (7,825,000,
according to SIL's Ethnologue).[citation needed] Swedish is also an official language in Finland where it is
spoken by a large number of Swedish-speaking Finns. The language is also spoken to some degree
by ethnic Swedes living outside Sweden, for example, just over half a million people of Swedish
descent in the United States speak the language, according to Ethnologue.[citation needed]
The Language Law of 2009 recognizes Swedish as the main and common language of society as
well as being the official language in "international contexts".[4]

Money in Finland: Banks, ATMs, cards &

currency exchange
TransferWise content team
03.27.17

5 minute read

In Finland, travel and tourism means big business: in 2013 alone well over
100,000 jobs were created by tourism. Recently, the country saw over four and a
half million overseas visitors flood into the country. The figure is expected to
continue to rise as more and more tourists flock to explore Finland’s natural
beauty.

Fancy visiting? There’s plenty of reasons why you should. The country is famous for its
gorgeous lakes, dramatic scenery and thriving winter sports scene. But you’ll need
plenty of money to hand in this notoriously expensive country. To make sure you don’t
spend more than you need to while converting your cash to euros, we’ve put together
this handy guide to help you make sense of ATMs, banking and currency exchange in
Finland.

Currency in Finland
The Finnish Markka was replaced in 2002 with the euro, making Finland the only Nordic
country to join the European single currency. The Markka is now out of circulation
and the Euro is the only form of legal tender in Finland.

The Euro is divided into 100 cents and is available in both coins and banknotes. Notes
start at €5 and go up to €500, with €10, €20, €50, €100 and €200 bills in between.
Coins are available in 1c, 2c, 5c, 10c, 20c and 50c, €1 and €2. Be aware that 1 cent and
2 cent coins are no longer in general circulation in Finland, but can still be used.

Finnish Euro coins have their own decoration, featuring a cloudberry – a gold coloured
plant native to the country. However, don’t get worried if you find coins with non-Finnish
designs. Each EU country has its own coins, but they can be used in any of the EU
countries.

Finland – like much of Northern Europe – is considered relatively expensive to visit. The
capital city of Helsinki is known for its high prices, so make sure to budget accordingly
when planning your trip. Alcohol is heavily taxed, so you’d be wise to keep bar crawls to
a minimum. Luckily, Finns love spending time outside in nature, so making the most of
the country’s spectacular scenery shouldn’t break the bank.

Exchanging currency in Finland

Because Finland uses euros, exchanging money in the country should be fairly easy.
This means it’s worth waiting until you reach your destination until you exchange to get
a more favourable rate. And try not to exchange too much money into euros – they’re
expensive to change back into your home currency if you have money leftover at the
end of your trip.

While you’ll find plenty of places to exchange cash in Finland, it’s worth shopping
around to ensure you don’t get stung with extra fees or unfavourable exchange rates.
Changing currency at the airport, for example, is never a good idea. It may be
convenient at the time, but you’ll pay heavily for the privilege, as airport vendors are
unlikely to give you the best rate. Beware any ‘Zero Commission’ claims, too – the
fees that exchange services charge are usually wrapped into the cost of the conversion.
For the same reason, hotels are usually not a good place to exchange currency either.

Making sure that you know the mid market rate before you get to Finland is vital. The
mid-market rate is the only genuine exchange rate as it doesn’t include any commission
or fees. It’s the same one you’ll find on Google and the same ones that big banks use to
trade money on the global market. Use it as a benchmark comparison for any currency
you buy to make sure that any charges are fair and you aren’t being ripped off.

Using Traveller's Checks in Finland

Traveller’s checks are usually only accepted and exchanged by banks in Finland, not
vendors. Make sure you have back up cash to avoid any embarrassing scenarios in
restaurants or at tourist attractions. Throughout Europe, Travellers Checks are used
less and less, so it’s more convenient to use either cash or credit and debit cards.

If you’re lucky enough to find any vendors that do accept Traveller’s Checks, you’ll
probably find that the exchange rate offered isn’t great, so you’ll end up spending more
for less. Be on the safe side – leave your Traveller’s Checks at home.

Using Credit Cards and Debit Cards in Finland

Visa, Mastercard, American Express and Diner’s Club Cards are all widely accepted in
Finland. Using credit and debit cards is the most popular way of paying for goods and
services in the country, so it’s a good alternative to cash or cheque. However, call your
bank before you travel to make sure find out about any charges that could be incurred
when paying by card.

Also, be prepared to show a photo ID when purchasing goods by card - this is a very
common practice all across the country.

ATMs in Finland
Finnish banks don’t have their own ATM machines. OTTO is the country’s interbank
network, connecting almost every bank in the region. While you’ll be able to select an
English language option at OTTO machines, there are some big differences between
these and ATMs you’ll find at home. For example, OTTOs have 2 card slots - a blue one
for chip and pin cards, and a yellow insert for cards that have a magnetic stripe.

Withdrawing from an OTTO with a credit card is usually the cheapest and simplest way
of withdrawing cash in Finland. However, machines or service providers may offer you
an option of being charged in your home currency (this is called dynamic currency
conversion). Though it may feel more comfortable, it’s not a good idea. Instead, make
sure that you always choose to be charged in the local currency (€) not your home
currency. Being charged in the local currency means that your bank or credit card
provider will set the exchange rate for your withdrawal, which will often be much more
favourable than the one the ATM would give you.

Banks in Finland
Take some form of ID with you when going to a bank in Finland. Whether you’re
opening an account or trying to cash a Traveller’s Cheque, photo ID is a must – a
passport is the best option. The country is well-served with lots of commercial banking
options. Below are some of the most common:

Under the stable ownership and management of four generations of the Herlin family Kone
has grown into one of the leading elevator and escalator companies in the world. Photo:
KONE

Marimekko Corporation is a leading Finnish textile and clothing design company that
was established in 1951.Photo: Marimekko
In a little over ten years, the structure of Finnish industry has changed more than most
Finns yet realize. By the end of the 1990s, an economy that had relied for centuries on
the country’s vast forests suddenly found that its most important sector, in terms of both
value added and exports, was electronics.
We used to say, “Finland lives on its forests”, but today we would have to add “..and on
Nokia”. And it lives very well. But Finland is already undergoing a further transformation,
into a service-dominated society.

At the same time as technology and services have come to the fore, globalization has
played its part in the decline of various industries that used to be important. These
mainly relied on the home market, though some also did well as exporters. Rising
incomes have been another contributing factor, with the result that, for instance, it is no
longer profitable to make clothing in Finland, apart from a few top brands such as Luhta
and Marimekko.

Naturally, the range of a small country’s products is always limited – though during the
war we even managed to produce petrol from peat. With the growing importance of
bioenergy today we might find ourselves returning to this.

In any case, Nokia and the companies associated with it are now the jewels in the
crown of Finnish industry. Nevertheless, even this network of companies has been
constantly changing. Relatively simple operations such as the manufacture of mobile
phone cases and chargers have already been transferred abroad. Finland is instead left
to focus on product development and on making the more demanding handsets and
many of the components for them. Although the ‘China effect’ has been frequently
mentioned, the amount of manufacturing transferred from Finland to Asia has in fact
been rather small.

The management and R&D units of Nokia and its ‘satellites’ also remain firmly based in
Finland. Attracting much-needed experts from other countries to live and work here is
not easy though – there’s the long dark autumn, the impenetrable language and higher
taxes. But this is partly counterbalanced by Finland’s reputation as a safe and
prosperous country where foreigners, too, can enjoy living and working. English is
widely spoken, and for much of the year Finland is a country full of light and natural
beauty.

Long history of electrical engineering

The electrical engineering industry’s roots in Finland go back to the late 19th century,
when Gottfried Strömberg built his first generators and electric motors. The company he
founded is now an integral and profitable part of the Asea Brown Boveri Group. Other
Finnish companies – such as Instru, Vaisala and Neles (now part of Metso) – have
succeeded in areas such as industrial automation and medical and meteorological
technology.

Electrical engineering also covers lift and crane production, where Kone Plc and its
offspring KCI Konecranes are global leaders. Kone was founded in 1910 as a section of
Strömberg, and under the ownership and management of the Herlin family it has grown
into one of the three biggest lift producers in the world. Just how is admittedly
something of a mystery, as Finland itself does not even have any skyscrapers. Crucial
to Kone’s success has been its emphasis on advanced technology (e.g. the first lifts to
have no motor room) and its rock-solid ownership base.
Wood processing today is high tech

Finland has three major international forest corporations. In the picture jumbo rolls at
Stora-Enso Mill in Oulu, Finland.Photo: Stora-Enso
Wood processing, to produce a wide range of products from planks to pulp and paper,
remains another major sector of industry in Finland. Here, too, advanced technology
plays an increasingly significant role. Today, the highly paid and trained employees at
paper mills tend to sit at computers in a control room, and it is only when some
mechanical fault occurs – such as when the hurtling paper web breaks – that
technicians rush down to the shop floor and engage ‘hands on’ with the huge machines.

In today’s pulp mills in Finland, both raw materials and power are used so efficiently that
the raw wood fibre is fully utilized in a ‘closed circuit’, and even the waste liquor is
burned to produce electricity. In fact, a pulp mill is a kind of power plant, because it
generates more electricity than it consumes. As opposed to chemical separation of
wood fibres, however, the mechanical separation process required in making papers
such as newsprint consumes enormous amounts of energy. Finland also produces
many different speciality papers (e.g. Ahlstrom) and paper products.

Production units in the forest industry have grown constantly in size, leading to
increasing concentration of ownership. Finland has three major international forest
corporations – Stora Enso, UPM and M-Real – each with Finnish top management.
Stora Enso was created as a merger between a large Finnish and a large Swedish
company, while UPM has grown through the merging and acquisition of many other
Finnish forest industry companies over the years. M-Real’s main shareholders are
forest owners, of whom there are several hundred thousand, as Finland’s forests are
mainly privately owned by farmers and their descendants. All three of these major
corporations have large mills and subsidiaries abroad, too.

Growth in the forest industry’s markets since 2000 has fallen short of expectations,
however, and this has led to global overcapacity. The use of low-priced tropical wood
fibre has also caused problems for the forest industry, although the tough fibre grown in
northern latitudes remains the most durable material for papermaking. The major forest
corporations have had to reorganize their business, and this has included closure of
even fairly modern mills, and in Finland too. This has hit local communities hard,
especially where the mill has been the town’s main employer for a century or more.
Stora Enso has even sold off – at a loss – its recently acquired mills in North America.

While Finland has numerous independent sawmilling companies, the big papermakers
also have their own highly automated sawmill units. Nothing is wasted in the overall
process: high-quality logs are sawn into timber, and the waste is used to make pulp or
chipboard. Another important field of production is plywood manufacture, mainly using
birch. In addition, Finland has a wide range of companies serving the forest industry in
sectors such as forest machinery manufacture and the provision of consultancy services
(e.g. the global consulting firm Jaakko Pöyry).

Wood processing also supplies materials for the packaging industry, which includes one
of the world’s largest packaging companies, Huhtamäki (e.g. disposable tableware, in
which plastic is also a raw material). Wood is of course the most important raw material
in furniture, the biggest manufacturer in Finland being Isku and the most famous
perhaps Artek, which markets furniture designed by Alvar Aalto.
World’s leading paper machine producer

Valtra tractors assembly line in Suolahti plant.Photo: Valtra/Lauri Jokela

The metal and engineering industry has a long history in Finland, but its great
breakthrough did not come until the mid 1940s, with the equipment and armaments
needed during wartime and the consequent reparations that Finland had to make to the
Soviet Union as part of the peace settlement. Since then, a key focus has been on the
design and manufacture of wood-processing machinery. Metso, formed from various
companies (e.g. Valmet and Tampella), is the world’s leading producer of paper
machines, which today are huge and technologically complex units. The market for
paper machines suffers considerable ups and downs, a fact inevitably reflected in
profits. Other engineering companies produce sawmill and other machinery.

The engineering company Wärtsilä, established in 1834, is today one of the world’s
leading producers of large diesel engines. Assa Abloy, a global leader in the
manufacture of locks and locking systems, started off as part of Wärtsilä (the Abloy lock
was a Finnish invention). Other well-known names include Cargotec, a leading supplier
of cargo-handling equipment (e.g. Hiab, Multilift), Valtra tractors, the Pasi armoured
personnel carriers so often seen in peacekeeping operations, and the heavy-duty Sisu
trucks manufactured for a range of special uses. Passenger cars are made in Finland
under licence.
Luxury cruise ships and ice-breakers

The Aker Yards shipyards in Finland are situated in Turku, Helsinki and Rauma. The
yard in Turku, with a land area of 144 hectares, is one of the biggest and most modern
shipyards in Europe.Photo: Aker Yards
The war reparations that Finland had to pay the Soviet Union from the mid 1940s can
also be thanked for the subsequent growth of shipyards. Starting from that period they
became famous as builders of ice-breakers, vessels needed by Finland’s ports every
winter to clear shipping lanes through the sea ice. Nowadays luxury cruise liners are the
mainstay of shipyards. These yards were gradually transferred to the ownership of the
Norwegian Aker Yards, starting in the 1990s, and Aker Yards has itself been recently
taken over by a South Korean company. Finnish shipyards have managed to remain
open for business despite the fierce international competition in this sector, aggravated
though it is by the public subsidies paid in many countries despite every effort made by
the Finnish Government to fight the practice.

Finland has also been a leading producer of oil-drilling platforms. Naturally enough, a
country with a lengthy coastline, an extensive archipelago and 200,000 lakes is also
known for its sailing boats and other pleasure craft (e.g. Nautor’s Swan yachts).

International names in metal products include Fiskars, founded in 1649, and its famous
scissors, and Tamglass (part of the global Glaston Group), a leading manufacturer of
glassmaking machinery. Sports equipment is also made in Finland using not only metal
but also plastic and wood. However, many other consumer goods, such as home
appliances, are now mostly made in countries where costs are lower.
Metallurgy, too, has long traditions in Finland. Now an international stainless steel
company, the once state-owned Outokumpu is known the world over for developing the
flash smelting process for copper production. Many of Finland’s large mines have
closed down, so most raw materials now have to be imported. For this reason,
companies now tend to focus on high added-value processing of metals, such as
copper pipe manufacturing. Recent years have nevertheless seen a resurgence of
interest in ore prospecting. Finland has an abundance of minerals, even uranium ore
(though this has not yet been mined).

The most important ore deposit mined today is in Kemi, in northern Finland, where
chrome is produced for Outokumpu’s stainless steel grades. Outokumpu’s copper
business is now part of the Swedish mining and smelting giant Boliden. Rautaruukki
(now known under its marketing name, Ruukki) makes a wide range of products,
including sheet steel.

From tar to forest industry chemicals

The chemical industry’s roots could be said to go back to tar-making, a process in which
Finland was one of the world’s leaders in the 17th century, a time when it was still part
of the Kingdom of Sweden. The development of the British Empire, for example, was
largely reliant on a fleet of seaworthy sailing ships, whose hulls and ropes were
protected with Finnish tar. Today, Finland’s chemical industry is based to a large extent
on Kemira’s fertilizers and explosives and Neste’s oil refining. Both companies were
originally set up for reasons of national security, to safeguard the functioning of society
in times of crisis.

Kemira today is an international group that focuses primarily on chemicals for the forest
industry and water treatment. Neste was combined in 1997 with the state-owned power
company Imatran Voima to form the Fortum Group. However, the hoped-for synergy did
not materialize and Fortum’s oil refining operations have been returned to Neste, whose
strengths lie in its expertise in refining Russian crude oil and in the production of
environmentally friendly oil products. Petrochemical production is currently owned by
Borealis.

In pharmaceuticals, the leading company Orion also invests heavily in product

development, and the German company Bayer Schering’s Finnish subsidiary (formerly
Leiras) is one of the world’s leading developers and producers of birth control products.

A further, though perhaps less obvious, representative of the Finnish chemical industry
is Nokian Tyres, known for its Hakkapeliitta winter tyres. Nokian Tyres was actually part
of Nokia Corporation prior to 1988.
Finnish design: important for image

Artek markets furniture, lamps and textiles designed by the famous architect and
designer Alvar Aalto.Photo: Artek
Although Finnish design has never been of major economic importance, the sector does
nevertheless employ a relatively large number of people and it has been very significant
for the country’s image. Manufacture of ceramics, glass and cutlery is now concentrated
in the Iittala company, which also owns the brand names Arabia and Hackman.

Besides Fiskars and the furniture makers already mentioned, other well-known design
companies include fashion-wear producers Luhta and Marimekko and a number of
footwear manufacturers. The last-mentioned are still largely under family ownership.

Luhta, owned by the Luhtanen family, is known especially for its winter sports wear,
while Marimekko, established in 1951 by the vivacious Armi Ratia, became known in the
‘60s for the modern look of its clothing (favoured by Jacqueline Kennedy, among
others). After a difficult interim period, Marimekko was acquired in 1991 by Kirsti
Paakkanen, who led it to flourish once again – not least with the aid of classic designs.
Ownership has recently changed hands, with a young former banker, Mika Ihamuotila,
now at the helm – at the same time he switched from a business dark suit to jeans and
a velvet jacket, without a tie.
Design is an important factor in many other products too, among them lifts and mobile
phones. However, Finland’s once significant ‘heavy industry’ of cotton, wool and other
textile manufacturing has almost ceased.

Sectors in transformation

The Raisio Group develops, produces and markets food and functional food ingredients,
feeds and malts.Photo: Raisio
The food industry has also gone through some major changes, largely because joining
the EU in 1995 meant abolishing protectionist import licences required for many basic
foodstuffs. Nevertheless, Finns still tend to opt for what they see as untainted Finnish
foods, partly because of the numerous scares connected with food products in other
countries. The structure of the food industry had become very inflexible during the pre-
EU days, however, and even today, procurement and processing of foodstuffs remains
largely in the hands of producer cooperatives, as in many other countries.

Today’s food industry in Finland includes the major dairy chain Valio, several large
meat-processing companies, the diversified but troubled Raisio Group, three brewers
(the two largest owned by international chains), a couple of large coffee processors
(e.g. Paulig), bakery chains (e.g. Fazer and Vaasan & Vaasan) and a couple of
confectioners, together with various other largish enterprises and a huge number of
small ones. Mergers and acquisitions in the sector look likely to continue.
There were major changes in the construction sector, too, in the 1990s. The cement
industry, formerly a cartel, was merged into an international group, while the plastic
piping manufacturer Uponor itself opted to go international. In interior fittings, key
names include Sanitec, an important producer of bathroom ceramics, and Oras, which
makes a wide range of innovative tap systems. Some large building firms have passed
into Swedish hands (NCC, Skanska), while big companies remaining in Finnish
ownership include YIT, SRV and Lemminkäinen. Despite the considerable
concentration of ownership in the construction sector, there are still numerous small
local companies.

Printing companies have mostly merged with publishing houses, where ownership has
become heavily consolidated since the early ’80s. The major printing houses are
consequently owned by SanomaWSOY, Alma Media, Otava-Kuvalehdet and Turun
Sanomat (Hansaprint). Largely because of the rare language, publishing and printing
always used to be closely guarded and in Finnish hands, but times have changed. Now,
for example, the biggest corporation, SanomaWSOY, has internationalized its magazine
and book publishing considerably through corporate acquisitions abroad.

Huge amounts of energy needed

Nuclear power plant in Loviisa. Unit 1 was operational in 1977 and Unit 2 in 1981.Photo:
Fortum
Finland needs a lot of electricity, for its forest industry and for homes during the fairly
long winter. Finland’s energy production is divided as follows: 24% oil, 21% wood fuel,
16% nuclear power, 14% coal and 11% natural gas. Peat, hydropower and wind power
are negligible by comparison, as are electricity imports. One half of all the energy
consumed in Finland goes to industry, one quarter to heating buildings and one fifth to
transport.

Power generation used to be divided among the formerly 100% state-owned Imatran
Voima (now Fortum), municipal power plants and private companies (especially in the
forest industry). Today, the picture is changing. Fortum is now a listed company and has
acquired businesses in other Nordic countries and also in Russia. Many municipal
power companies, on the other hand, have been sold off, for instance to Swedish and
German electricity corporations, and industrial owners have also sold some of their
power plants. A variety of partners are currently involved in constructing Finland’s fifth
nuclear power unit and are among the owners of the power transmission network.

Though Finland has a lot of lakes and rivers, it is also fairly flat, and most of the viable
hydropower had already been harnessed before the end of the 1960s. Nuclear power
plays an important role in basic power generation in Finland. In addition, considerable
low-cost electricity is produced as a by-product by both the forest industry and district
heating plants, although during consumption peaks in particular, coal-fired power plants
also have to be used. Electricity is also imported from other Nordic countries and
Russia. Another fuel is peat from the country’s extensive peatlands.

Bioenergy and nuclear power

Today’s energy debate is underlined by a concern for climate change, which is why the
Government is advocating renewable energy sources, particularly bioenergy. In addition
to burning wood processing waste, there are plans to obtain fuel for vehicles in the
forests and fields of Finland; but how this should be done is the subject of heated
arguments. There are, of course, many underlying interests.

For all its ardour, the debate on biopetrol, biodiesel or wind power only concerns a tiny
portion of Finland’s energy balance sheet. Building new nuclear power plants or
increasing the use of natural gas, on the other hand, are high-impact issues. Energy
conservation has been a part of the Finnish environmental debate ever since the oil
crisis of the 1970s, and indeed Finnish industry has become considerably more energy-
efficient.

The EU too leans heavily towards bioenergy. Finland is already a bioenergy

superpower: as the overall aim for the EU is to increase the percentage of renewable
energy from the present 5.4% to 12% between 1997 and 2010, Finland already uses
22% to 25% renewable energy, depending on the year. However, even the star pupil
must perform better. How much better — that is a topic subject to considerable
wrangling in Brussels.

Critics have questioned the feasibility of bioenergy projects in a northern country with a
short growing season. We need wood primarily for wood processing. We do not have
the strong, steady winds of the oceanfront.

Because of the problems inherent in other energy options conducive to combating

climate change, nuclear power has gained new importance. Suspicions towards its
increased use have become diluted in all political parties. Although the Greens are
officially opposed to building new nuclear power plants, the party has decided to remain
in the Government even if — or when — the Government proposes just that. It should
be noted, however, that there are divisions within all parties on this matter.

Currently, the Franco-German consortium formed by Areva and Siemens is building

Finland’s fifth nuclear power plant at Olkiluoto on the western coast. A sixth and even a
seventh nuclear power plant have been mooted by the established energy company
Teollisuuden Voima and by the upstart Fennovoima. Both are companies formed of a
coalition of industrial and municipal partners; Fennovoima also includes the German
energy company EON. Many communities are competing to become the location of one
of these new power plants, although there is local opposition too, of course.

An eventful history behind Nokia’s triumphal advance

Olli-Pekka Kallasvuo, President and CEO of Nokia at the Mobile World Congress
2008.Photo: Nokia
Nokia’s rise to prominence was the outcome of both farsightedness and some happy
coincidences. The original company was a pioneer right from the start, because it
founded Finland’s first wood pulp mill, in 1865. It soon added papermaking to its range,
and in the 1920s Finland’s leading cable and rubber factories joined the concern. In the
’50s, future Nokia president Björn Westerlund, at that time head of the Cable Works,
wisely foresaw that the growth prospects of some of these sectors would be limited. As
a result, he decided to set up an electronics division at the company’s Cable Works.

What followed was a long period of trial and error, and Nokia electronics made a loss for
it first 15 years. Indeed, it was jokingly referred to as the company’s ‘cancer ward’ or,
less disparagingly, its ‘university’. But all the experimentation gradually built up
substantial expertise and a corps of talented experts. Orders from the government and
technology subsidies also helped, of course.

In the late ’70s, Nokia and television manufacturer Salora combined forces to develop
mobile phones, and in the ’80s Salora was incorporated into Nokia. As an indication of
the progress made by the late 1980s, Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev was famously
pictured using the latest handheld Nokia mobile phone to contact the Kremlin while on a
visit to Helsinki in 1987. At that time, the phones weighed in at around one kilo. As
Nokia grew in the ’80s, it also took a number of costly wrong turns, among them the
purchase of SEL, a major German television manufacturer. This was subsequently sold
off, as was Nokia’s own computer production, which was sold to ICL.

In the early 1990s Nokia was in a state of deep crisis, but the new CEO, Jorma Ollila,
decided to concentrate on mobile phones and telephone networks and to sell off
everything else. The Group’s consequent rise to the top was given an extra boost by the
fact that the telecoms market in Finland, albeit small, was deregulated at an early stage.
As a result, the world’s first-ever GSM phone call was made in Finland back in 1991.

The mobile phone market began to expand very rapidly worldwide in the mid ’90s.
Nokia shot to the top, becoming the world leader and opening factories around the
globe, though it first had to deal with a difficult logistical crisis in 1995, which it solved by
creating efficient new operating systems. These helped the company to remain very
profitable through into the 21st century.

Although a little late in catching up with certain post-2000 design trends, Nokia has
since consolidated its position as the world’s leading mobile phone corporation. It has
weathered the price competition for mass-market inexpensive phones, while also
excelling in product development and design for more expensive models.

Nokia is now focusing on the added-value content of its phones too, and its recent
acquisitions include a leading US mapping service provider. It won’t be long before
Nokia phones can be used to find your way anywhere in the world. In the mobile
networks business, Nokia has joined forces with Siemens. The Corporation also has a
new CEO, Olli-Pekka Kallasvuo, following Jorma Ollila’s departure to chair the board of
directors at both Nokia and Shell.

Several other Finnish companies were to grow to international significance in Nokia’s

wake, including the contract manufacturer Elcoteq. As competition has intensified,
Nokia’s partners have nevertheless found themselves reorganizing their operations
quite drastically.
Two men who led Nokia to greatness

The Nokia head office in Espoo.Photo: Nokia

Finns are aware that the Nokia success story is built on a solid industrial background
and history that go back to the 19th century. But how was the giant leap from the
backwoods of Finland to the bright international stage of communications possible?
Well, it took two men with willpower, foresight and patience, plus a passion for
innovation in electricity and electronics.

Westerlund, first group CEO

Some sixty years ago one of the two iconic figures dreamed, indeed believed, that
electronics would have a great future. He was the innovator who laid the foundations of
the modern Nokia. He was Björn Westerlund, first CEO of the Nokia group.

Björn Westerlund, the architect of modern-day Nokia, was born on December 27, 1912
in Hannover, the son of a Finnish engineering student and a German shopkeeper’s
daughter. Björn’s father, who would later be one of the family owners of Nokia, had him
sent to Finland at the age of eight, when the First World War had made life in Germany
very difficult. Later, Björn brought his mother over to Finland from amidst the ruins of
post-Second World War Germany.

Westerlund graduated in engineering and began his career at the Finnish Cable Works.
He served in the Second World War, rising to the rank of major. Having been appointed
president of the Cable Works in 1956, Westerlund set up an electronics department
within the company. Right from the start, he saw that the company’s future would
include high technology. The electronics department was initially led by a well-known
mathematician, Olli Lehto, who was related to Westerlund.

The Finnish Cable Works, the Finnish Rubber Works and the old Nokia paper mill, all
under the same ownership since the 1920s, were merged by Westerlund in 1967 to
form the new Nokia Corporation, of which Westerlund became the first president. The
Corporation was instantly one of the largest companies in Finland. At the same time, the
electronics department was turned into a separate division.

Besides creating Nokia, Westerlund was a key figure behind Finnish industry’s
construction of a nuclear power station in the 1970s for its joint needs. Considerable
political skill was needed for this, as well as good connections with the Finnish
President, Urho Kekkonen. In the 1960s, Westerlund served for a short time as Minister
of Trade and Industry, and went on to be the first Chairman of the Confederation of
Finnish Industries.

Westerlund retired in 1977. His successor, Kari Kairamo, oversaw a powerful

expansionary phase at Nokia; his acquisition of a string of European companies led him
to be referred to as “the man who bought Europe”. By the early 1990s, however, the
new CEO, Jorma Ollila, was faced with the task of drastically reorganizing Nokia’s
operations. At the core of the new company was Westerlund’s electronics business,
albeit in a much different form. A dizzying climb to success then followed, and Nokia
has not looked back since.

Ollila’s vision
In the 1970s computers emerged as the flagship products of Nokia Electronics and in
the next decade work began on the first generation of car phones. But on the whole
things were not going well and by the early 1990s Nokia was in a state of crisis. It was
then that Jorma Ollila, who had been invited to take up the position of CEO, decided to
concentrate all the company’s efforts on mobile phones, for which the GSM system had
just been adopted.
Jorma Ollila, Chairman of the Board of Directors at Nokia and Shell.Photo: Nokia
Jorma Ollila, the man who led Nokia to greatness, was born in Seinäjoki on August 15,
1950, the son of an engineer. The town is in the western Ostrobothnia region of Finland,
a region whose people are known for their enterprise and persistence. In the 19th
century Ostrobothnians were also known for getting into fights, giving the region a Wild
West reputation. Ostrobothnia was also the source of many Finnish emigrants looking
for a better life in America.

After a rare opportunity to attend school in the United Kingdom (Atlantic College), Ollila
returned to Finland and went on to graduate as a Master of Political Science and a
Master of Science (Eng.). In addition, he has a Master of Science degree from the
London School of Economics and Political Science. Student politics also attracted Ollila,
and he made his contributions under Centre Party colours. He also served as Chairman
of the National Union of University Students in Finland in 1973/74.

Having excelled as a student, Ollila went on to progress rapidly in his career, first at
Citibank in London and then in Finland, after which he joined the management echelon
at Nokia in 1985. In 1990 he was given front-line responsibility, being appointed to head
the Nokia Mobile Phones division. Here, too, he excelled.
At the end of the ’80s, the Nokia Corporation was suffering a crisis of such severity that
even its sale to Swedish rival Ericsson was contemplated. The management and key
shareholders (banks and insurance companies) could not agree on the way forward. In
the end, changes in management were made, with Ollila appointed CEO in 1992. This
saw the start of a major reorganization, in which it was decided that Nokia would
concentrate on mobile telephony and telecommunications networks and would sell off
all its other business. Shareholding in the company and the company’s operations
themselves were extended internationally.

Nokia quickly became a global player in the ‘90s, led by Ollila’s Finnish ‘dream team’.
Entering the new millennium, this group handed over the baton to a new and confident
group of Nokia top management – this time not only from Finland but also other parts of
the world. Since 2006, Ollila’s work at Nokia has concentrated solely on his role of
Board Chairman, and he performs the same role at Royal Dutch Shell.

Ollila has expressed his views openly on political issues and is currently chairing a think
tank, the ‘Finnish Business and Policy Forum’, which is financed by the Finnish
business community. He was even asked to put himself forward as a candidate in the
Finnish presidential election in 2006. Although he declined, he did not reject out of hand
the notion that he could stand in, say, 2012.

Ownership and industrial policy

As recently as the 1980s, industry was almost entirely Finnish-owned, and legislation
laid down strict limits on foreign ownership. For a long period about 20 per cent of all
industry was state-owned. Other important owners were Finnish banks and insurance
companies, which were also vital sources of credit, for Finland used to suffer from a
chronic shortage of capital. The real interest rate was often also non-existent or even
negative, and investment was further encouraged through the taxation system. Privately
owned companies’ roots often extended way back to the 19th century, to Finland’s first
capitalist entrepreneurs.

Today, all this has changed. EU membership in 1995 removed the restrictions on
foreign ownership, and Nokia, for instance, is nearly 90 per cent foreign-owned,
especially by American pension foundations. Finnish banks and insurance companies
have given up many of their industrial holdings as part of a process in which some
merged into Nordic financial groups (Nordea, Danske Bank). Capital can also be easily
obtained nowadays for profitable investment projects, releasing industry from its
dependence on the banks. The corporate tax system today correspondingly offers less
support for making investments but at the same time more support for corporate
solvency.

The State has sold a large part of its industrial holdings. Nevertheless, the importance
of Finnish private ownership is today being re-emphasized, and for this reason
inheritance tax is being reduced.

The Government’s industrial policy used to centre round equitable regional development
and state ownership. In the ‘80s, the focus shifted to support for technology and R&D,
with the result that Finland has put relatively more money into R&D than most other
Western countries – and to good effect. The success of the electronics industry and
other high-tech sectors provides clear evidence, though there have been some
disappointments, for instance in sectors based on the biosciences. But perhaps their
day will come; after all, it took decades before electronics made its breakthrough.
Finland’s industrial sectors (2005)

Value added
Personnel %
EUR million

Electronics and the electrical

60,927 7,187 21.6
industry

Machinery and transport 78,625 4,774 14.4

Forest industry
57,890 4,357 13.1
vehicles

Chemical industry 35,958 3,615 10.9

Power and water supply 15,511 2,930 8.8

Metal products 41,722 2,260 6.8

Food industry 36,256 2,127 6.4

Metallurgy and mining 20,637 1,978 5.9

Publishing and printing 27,597 1,694 5.1

Non-metallic mineral products 15,160 1,163 3.5

Textiles 11,127 512 1.5

Furniture 9,906 451 1.4

Other industry 3,700 234 0.6

Industry as a whole 415,016 33,279 100

Source: Statistics Finland

Finland’s biggest companies in 2006

Turnover
Name Sector
EUR billion

1. Nokia Electronics 41.1

2. Stora Enso Forest industry 14.6

3. Neste Oil Oil 12.7

4. UPM Forest industry 10.0

5. Metsäliitto (inc. M-Real) Forest industry 9.2

6. Kesko Wholesale-retail chain 8.7

7. Sampo Finance and investment 7.1

8. SOK Wholesale-retail chain 6.8

9. Outokumpu Metallurgy 6.1

10. Tamro Pharmaceutical wholesaling 5.5

Source: Talouselämä 20/2007 (500 largest Finnish companies)

By Jyrki Vesikansa, May 2008

The writer (born 1941) is a Licentiate in Philosophy and an experienced journalist who has
written some dozen books on Finnish companies and the history of Finnish industry in general.
Legacy of a Baker’s Boy (1995, on Huhtamäki Plc) and The Story of Perlos (2003) have
appeared in English.

Finland’s Top 10 Exports

MARCH 27, 2019 BY DANIEL WORKMAN

Helsinki, Finland
Sharing land borders with Sweden to its northwest, Norway to its north and Russia to its east, the
Republic of Finland shipped US$76.1 billion worth of goods around the globe in 2018. That dollar
amount reflects a 2.3% gain from 2014 to 2018 and a 13.2% uptick from 2017 to 2018.

Based on estimates from the Central Intelligence Agency’s World Factbook, Finland’s exported goods
plus services represent 38.5% of total Finnish economic output or Gross Domestic Product. That
percentage includes re-exports. The analysis below focuses on exported products only.

From a continental perspective, almost two-thirds of Finnish exports by value were delivered to fellow
European trade partners. Another 14.5% was sold to Asian importers, while 8.1% went to North
America. Smaller percentages were shipped to Africa (2.5%), Latin America (1.6%) excluding Mexico
but including the Caribbean, and Oceania (1.2%) led by Australia.

Given Finland’s population of 5.5 million people, its total $76.1 billion in 2018 exports translates to
roughly $13,700 for every resident in the Northern European nation.
 Finland’s unemployment rate was 7.4% at February 2019, down from 8.6% one year earlier,
according to Trading Economics.
Finland’s Top 10 Exports

 Top 10
 Advantages
 Opportunities
 Companies
The following export product groups represent the highest dollar value in Finnish global shipments
during 2018. Also shown is the percentage share each export category represents in terms of overall
exports from Finland.
1. Paper, paper items: US$9.7 billion (12.8% of total exports)
2. Machinery including computers: $9.7 billion (12.8%)
3. Mineral fuels including oil: $6.9 billion (9.1%)
4. Electrical machinery, equipment: $6.4 billion (8.4%)
5. Vehicles: $5.9 billion (7.8%)
6. Iron, steel: $4.9 billion (6.4%)
7. Wood: $3.5 billion (4.6%)
8. Optical, technical, medical apparatus: $3.4 billion (4.5%)
9. Woodpulp: $3.2 billion (4.2%)
10. Plastics, plastic articles: $2.6 billion (3.5%)
Finland’s top 10 exports accounted for almost three-quarters (73.9%) of the overall value of its global
shipments.

Woodpulp was the fastest-growing among the top 10 export categories, up 43% from 2017 to 2018.

In second place for Finland’s improving export sales was the mineral fuels including oils category
which rose 30%.

Finland’s exported vehicles posted the third-fastest gain in value (up 23.7%) trailed by paper and
items made from paper (up 21.4%).

At the more detailed four-digit Harmonized Tariff System code level, Finland’s most valuable exported
product is refined petroleum oils (7.8% of total). In second place was coated paper (6.7%), cars
(4.7%), non-dissolving chemical woodpulp (3.8%), flat-rolled stainless steel items (3.5%), sawn wood
(2.9%), then electro-medical equipment like xrays (2%).
GDP rises 2% in Finland in first quarter
Gross Domestic Product of Finland grew 0.2% in the first quarter of 2019 compared to the
previous quarter. This rate is 3 -tenths of one percent "} less than the figure of 0.5% published in the
forth quarter of 2018.
The year-on-year change in GDP was 1.2%, 10 -tenths of one percent less than the 2.2% recorded
in the forth quarter of 2018.
The GDP figure in the first quarter of 2019 was $67,660 million, Finland is number 32 in the ranking
of quarterly GDP of the 50 countries that we publish.
Finland has a quarterly GDP per capita, of $10,805, $356 higher than the same quarter last year,
it was <="" span="" style="box-sizing: border-box;">.
If we order the countries according to their GDP per capita, Finland is in 12th position of the 50
countries whose quarterly GDP we publish.
Here we show you the progression of the GDP in Finland. You can see GDP in other countries
in GDP and see all the economic information about Finland in Finland's economy.
Quarterly GDP at market prices 2019

Quarterly Quat. GDP Quat. GDP Annual

Date
GDP Growth (%) Growth (%)

2019Q1 67,660M.$ 0.2% 1.2%

< GDP Finland 2018

Evolution: GDP per capita Finland

Date GDP per capita GDP P.C. Annual Growth

2018 49,939$ 8.7%

Evolution: Annual GDP Finland

Date Annual GDP GDP Growth (%)

2018 275,321M.$ 2.3%

 Gross National Product in Finland decreased to 51075 EUR Million in the first
quarter of 2019 from 51586 EUR Million in the fourth quarter of 2018. Gross
National Product in Finland averaged 42082.79 EUR Million from 1990 until
2019, reaching an all time high of 51586 EUR Million in the fourth quarter of 2018
and a record low of 27989 EUR Million in the second quarter of 1993.
Finland Gross National Income
This page provides - Finland Gross National Income - actual values, historical data, forecast, chart,
statistics, economic calendar and news. Finland Gross National Income - actual data, historical chart
and calendar of releases - was last updated on June of 2019.

Actual Previous Highest Lowest Dates Unit Frequency

51075.00 51586.00 51586.00 27989.00 1990 - 2019 EUR Million Quarterly Constant Prices, SA

Finland's Gross National Product was reported at 65.119 USD bn in Mar 2019. This
records a decrease from the previous number of 71.360 USD bn for Dec 2018.
...
Finland Gross National Product.

Statistics

Median 48,918.696

Max Sep 2008 74,010.107

Min Mar 1993 19,444.411

Previous observation Dec 2018 71,359.512

Finland is the 3 least corrupt nation out of 175 countries, according to the 2018
Corruption Perceptions Index reported by Transparency International. Corruption
Rank in Finland averaged 2.42 from 1995 until 2018, reaching an all time high of
6 in 2009 and a record low of 1 in 2000.
Finland Corruption Rank
The Corruption Perceptions Index ranks countries and territories based on how corrupt their public
sector is perceived to be. A country or territory's rank indicates its position relative to the other
countries and territories in the index. This page provides the latest reported value for - Finland
Corruption Rank - plus previous releases, historical high and low, short-term forecast and long-term
 prediction, economic calendar, survey consensus and news. Finland Corruption Rank - actual data,
historical chart and calendar of releases - was last updated on June of 2019.

Actual Previous Highest Lowest Dates Unit Frequency

3.00 3.00 6.00 1.00 1995 - 2018 Yearly

Finland scored 85 points out of 100 on the 2018 Corruption Perceptions Index
reported by Transparency International. Corruption Index in Finland averaged
92.85 Points from 1995 until 2018, reaching an all time high of 100 Points in
2000 and a record low of 85 Points in 2017.

To allow for assessment of progress in HDIs, the 2018 Statistical Update includes recalculated
HDIs from 1990 to 2017 using consistent series of data. Finland's HDIvalue for 2017 is 0.920—
which put the country in the very high human development category—positioning it at 15 out of
189 countries and territories.

Finland - Human development index

0.92 (score)in 2017

In 2017, human development index for Finland was 0.92 score. Human development
index of Finland increased from 0.84 score in 1998 to 0.92 score in 2017 growing at an
average annual rate of 0.48 %.

The description is composed by our digital data assistant.

What is human development index?

A composite index measuring average achievement in three basic dimensions of human
development—a long and healthy life, knowledge and a decent standard of living. 1=the
most developed.