Robust growth in Finnish goods imports from China

Finnish Customs reports that the value of goods imported from China in January-June was 2.5 billion euros, an increase of more than 10 % y-o-y. A driver of imports growth has been the shift to online work, as well as strong demand for personal protective equipment (PPE) such as face masks to deal with Covid-19 risks. While Finnish imports from other parts of the world have declined markedly this year, China’s share of Finnish imports has increased rapidly. That share climbed to roughly 10 % in the second quarter (7.5 % in 2019).

Finnish exports to China declined at the same rate as exports to the rest of the world (down 17 % y-o-y). Volumes of many important Finnish exports such as pulp, metals and timber decreased, as did export prices for many commodities. Exports to China totalled 1.5 billion euros in January-June. Rapidly increasing imports and declining exports boosted the goods trade deficit of goods to around 1 billion euros for the first half of this year.

Steady growth in Finnish imports from China

Sources: Finnish Customs and BOFIT.