Finland

Finland was a province and then a grand duchy under Sweden from the 12th to the 19th centuries, and an autonomous grand duchy of Russia after 1809. It won its complete independence in 1917. During World War II, it was able to successfully defend its freedom and resist invasions by the Soviet Union - albeit with some loss of territory. In the subsequent half century, the Finns made a remarkable transformation from a farm/forest economy to a diversified modern industrial economy; per capita income is now on par with Western Europe. A member of the European Union since 1995, Finland was the only Nordic state to join the euro system at its initiation in January 1999.

Main Airports

Helsinki (HEL) (Helsinki-Vantaa) , Tampere (TMP), Turku (TKU)

U.S. Embassy

Itainen Puistotie 14, Helsinki 00140
tel: 358-9-616-250

Statistics

GDP: purchasing power parity:

$161.5 billion (2005 est.)

GDP - real growth rate:

2.2% (2005 est.)

GDP - per capita: purchasing power parity:

30,900 (2005 est.)

Inflation rate (consumer prices):

0.9% (2005 est.)

Labor force:

2.61 million (2005 est.)

Exports:

$67.88 billion f.o.b. (2005 est.)

Exports - partners:

Russia 11.2%, Sweden 10.7%, Germany 10.5%, UK 6.6%, US 6.2%, Netherlands 4.8% (2005)

Imports:

$56.45 billion f.o.b. (2005 est.)

Imports - partners:

Germany 16.2%, Sweden 14.1%, Russia 13.9%, Netherlands 6.2%, Denmark 4.6%, UK 4.3%, China 4.2% (2005)

Population:

5,231,372 (July 2006 est.)

Population growth rate:

0.14% (2006 est.)

Population Below Poverty Line:

NA%

Major Industries:

metals and metal products, electronics, machinery and scientific instruments, shipbuilding, pulp and paper, foodstuffs, chemicals, textiles, clothing

Employing Workers: 111*

Registering Property: 15*

Enforcing Contracts: 13*

Closing a Business: 6*

*2006 World Bank rank out of 175 countries

Starting a Business

The table below shows the number of steps and the amount of time needed to start a business, on average

Indicator	Finland	Region
Procedures (number)	3
Time (days)	14

Finland Risk Assessment

Country Rating

Rating: A1

The political and economic situation is very good. A quality business environment has a positive influence on corporate payment behaviour. Corporate default probability is very low on average.

Risk Assessment

Strong growth continued in 2007, driven by foreign demand and household consumption. Exports remained at a good level thanks to performance in key sectors (electronics. mechanical engineering) and the buoyant economic conditions enjoyed by Finland's main trading partners (Germany, Sweden and Russia). Despite an upsurge of inflation and a limited increase in wages, household consumption remained dynamic thanks to an improving employment picture and an increase in spending from savings. Investment was mainly driven by non-residential construction and capital goods purchases by companies.

The growth rate will decline further in 2008. Households will ease up somewhat on spending amid persistent inflationary pressures, more difficult conditions of access to credit, and high debt. Household consumption will nonetheless remain at a good level thanks to the expected strong increase in wages and continuing withdrawals from savings, whose rate will significantly decline. Foreign demand, albeit less dynamic, will allow export growth to remain reasonably strong despite the euro appreciation and constraints related to production capacity. Residential investment will stall under the effect of high interest rates whereas public and commercial projects will remain very dynamic. The very satisfactory financial results achieved by companies overall should allow them to cope with rising production costs and go forward with their investment programmes. They will nonetheless have to contend with a shortage of skilled labour. Public sector finances will continue to improve with the government having decided to postpone tax reductions and give budgetary priority to debt reduction.

Corporate bankruptcies stabilised at a low level in 2007 attesting to their financial health overall, a fact borne out by the good Coface payment incident index for Finland. The slowdown of household consumption and residential construction should nonetheless affect weaker companies in sectors like leisure, hotel-catering, distribution, and sectors connected with the home.

• Agriculture
• Apparel
• Arts & Crafts
• Automobile
• Bags, Cases & Boxes
• Chemicals
• Computer Hardware & Software
• Construction & Real Estate
• Consumer Electronics
• Electrical & Electronics
• Energy & Environment
• Food & Beverage
• Furniture & Furnishing
• Health & Medicine
• Home Supplies
• Industrial Supplies
• Lights & Lighting
• Machinery
• Mineral & Materials
• Office Supplies
• Security & Protection
• Service
• Sports & Entertainment
• Telecommunications
• Textile
• Toys
• Transportation