The Finnish economy witnessed a more pronounced contraction in the final quarter of 2023 than initially reported, as per the latest figures from Statistics Finland revealed on Thursday.
The country's gross domestic product (GDP) experienced a seasonally and working-day-adjusted drop of 0.7 percent sequentially in the December quarter. This significant decrease follows a revised decline of 1.1 percent in the preceding quarter.
Forecasts made on February 14 showed an estimated decrease rate of 0.4 percent, somewhat less than the reality. Consequently, Finland has now officially entered a phase of technical recession due to this second consecutive quarterly dip.
Dissecting the expenditure components, private consumption remained static from the quarter before, whereas government consumption increased by 0.8 percent. Contrarily, gross capital formation dwindled by 1.5 percent, mainly owing to a decrease in private sector investment.
The data also reveal a decrease in both exports and imports, with declines of 1.0 percent and 1.5 percent, respectively.
Analyzing the figures from a yearly standpoint, the GDP experienced a working-day-adjusted contraction of 1.8 percent in the final quarter. This follows closely behind a revised 1.6 percent drop in the third quarter of the same year.
