Finland's economy contracted more than initially estimated in the fourth quarter of 2022 as rising inflationary pressures halted household spending along with a decline in foreign demand, figures from Statistics Finland showed on Tuesday.
Gross domestic product fell a seasonally and working-day-adjusted 0.6 percent sequentially in the fourth quarter, following a revised 0.1 percent drop in the third quarter.
In the flash report, the rate of decline for the December quarter was only 0.2 percent.
Thus, the economy entered a technical recession due to back-to-back declines in GDP.
On the expenditure side, private consumption fell 0.6 percent over the quarter, and government consumption was 1.2 percent lower.
Gross fixed capital formation also logged a negative growth of 2.0 percent, as both private and public investment contracted.
The volume of exports decreased 2.9 percent, and that of imports slid 2.4 percent.
On a yearly basis, GDP growth slowed sharply to 0.1 percent in the fourth quarter from 1.6 percent in the third quarter.
