Trade statistics for Q1 shows coronavirus impacts

Statistics Finland on Monday published the Finnish trade statistics for Q1 of 2020, showing the gradual impact of the COVID-19 epidemic this spring, reported Xinhua.

Finnish balance of payments showed a deficit in the first quarter of 2020. The value of goods exports of Finland fell by 12 percent from Q1 in 2019. The fall in goods imports was more moderate. Service exports fell by 5 percent.

In the first quarter of 2020, the current account deficit of Finland was 1.6 billion euros, and the balance of goods and services showed a deficit of 1.2 billion euros, said Statistics Finland.

As part of the export of services, tourism to Finland declined by 16 percent compared to Q1 in 2019. Tourism out of Finland declined by 9 percent. Finland began restricting cross-border travel as an anti-COVID-19 measure in March, both the airline and cruise ship industries then began closing their services.

Meanwhile, Statistics Finland on Monday said the Finnish GDP showed a decline of 1.9 percent in January-March 2020 from the previous quarter, correcting the figure of 4.6 percent it had given last Thursday.

Commenting to Finnish language business daily Kauppalehti, Pasi Kuoppamäki, the chief economist of Danske Bank, said the decline in GDP was understandable in the light of the forest industry strikes in early 2020 and the impact of COVID-19 in March.