Finland maintains satisfactory GDP growth in 2018

The Finnish gross domestic product grew in 2018 by 2.2 percent, Statistics Finland reported on Thursday.

Commentators noted that even though the growth was less than in some predictions, the Finnish GDP growth continued at a satisfactory level in comparison with the rest of the EU.

From October to December, GDP grew by 0.7 percent from the previous quarter. According to preliminary data compiled by Eurostat, GDP in the whole EU area grew by 0.3 percent in the last quarter of 2018 compared with the previous quarter.

The volume of exports grew by 1.5 percent and that of imports by 4.2 percent in Q4 year-on-year. Gross fixed capital formation, or investments, grew by 3.2 percent. Private consumption increased by 1.4 percent and public consumption by 0.3 percent from 12 months back.

Besides growth in consumption, demand was boosted by increases in construction investments, but due to growing imports, the effect of net exports clearly depressed demand, Statistics Finland noted.

According to Statistics Finland's Labor Force Survey, the unemployment rate was 6.0 percent in Q4. The level was 1.6 percentage points less than in the same period in 2017.

Timo Vesala, the chief economist of the Savings Bank Group, described the figures as a relief. Commenting to a Finnish language business daily Kauppalehti, he noted particularly the growth in demand towards the end of the year after a mid-year period of slowdown.

"This is good for 2019. But the cyclical problems of the euro zone have shown to be more serious than earlier predicted and now there are symptoms of a slowdown of growth also in the U.S.", Vesala said.