Finland: Economic activity growth ramps up in March
Economic activity grew a working-day adjusted 3.1% in March compared to the same month last year, up from February’s 2.4% expansion and the strongest result since May last year. This is according to the latest monthly Trend Indicator of Output released by Statistics Finland.
The improved result in March came on the back of a 4.9% expansion in secondary production, which comprises the manufacturing and construction sectors (February: +3.0% year-on-year). Services production, the largest output category in Finland, grew 1.6% in March, down from 2.0% in February. Meanwhile, primary production, which includes the agriculture, hunting, forestry and fishing sectors, expanded 1.6%, swinging up from February’s 0.2% contraction.
A month-on-month comparison shows that economic activity on a seasonally-adjusted basis expanded 0.6% in March, up from February’s revised flat reading (previous reported: -0.1% month-on-month). Average year-on-year growth in economic activity remained steady at February’s 2.8% in March.