HELSINKI, Aug. 29 (Xinhua) — Finland’s gross domestic product (GDP) contracted by 0.4 percent in the second quarter of 2025 from the previous quarter, Statistics Finland said in a press release on Friday.
The working-day adjusted GDP remained unchanged from the same period last year, according to the statistical authority.
“The development of GDP in April-June of this year was weighed down by decreases in both private and public consumption,” said Antti Kosunen, a senior statistician at Statistics Finland.
Public consumption expenditure fell by 1.0 percent and private consumption by 1.3 percent from the first quarter. Meanwhile, the volume of exports declined by 0.2 percent, while imports rose by 2.5 percent.
Investment activity, however, continued to grow. Private investments increased by 2.9 percent and public investments by 5.1 percent. “The growth in investment is a good sign for the economic outlook,” Kosunen noted.
Jukka Appelqvist, chief economist of the Finland Chamber of Commerce, said the performance in the second quarter was clearly weaker than economists had expected.
“The sign of the last three quarters is now negative, so technically Finland is in recession again,” he said in a press release issued on Friday. Appelqvist highlighted private consumption as the clearest weakness, with its level falling to the lowest point in four years.
However, statistics Finland reported that GDP in July grew by 0.4 percent from the previous month. Appelqvist added that the third quarter appears to have started better, and from an optimistic perspective, signs of recovery may be emerging.
With GDP figures indicating Finland had entered a technical recession, commentators predicted growth forecasts would be revised down.
Aki Kangasharju, CEO of the Research Institute of the Finnish Economy (ETLA), told business daily Kauppalehti on Friday that ETLA would lower its 1.2 percent growth forecast for this year, though it would maintain its 1.4 percent forecast for 2026. He said strengthened purchasing power and lower interest rates are expected to support the economy.
The Finnish Ministry of Finance has recently predicted growth of 1.0 percent this year and 1.5 percent in 2026, while the Bank of Finland forecast 0.5 percent growth this year and 1.5 percent in 2026.
