Finland’s imports from China increased during the pandemic

Statistics Finland reports that the value of Finnish exports of goods and services to China last year amounted to 4.7 billion euros, or 9 % more than in 2020. As Finland’s total exports of goods and services increased by nearly 15 % y-o-y, China’s share of Finland’s total exports declined slightly to just under 5 %.

Pulp used in papermaking accounted for 24 % of all Finnish exports to China. Another major share (22 %) consisted of different kinds of machinery, equipment and measurement devices. The value of services exports was just under 1.4 billion euros, or 29 % of Finnish exports to China. In the pre-pandemic year of 2019 before travel restrictions were imposed, the value of Finnish services provided to China was nearly 1.8 billion euros, or 35 % of all Finnish exports to China.

The value of Finnish imports of goods and services from China rose last year to over 7.6 billion euros, a 20 % increase from 2020. China’s share of Finland’s total imports has grown during the pandemic to nearly 8 % last year. Some 37 % of imports consisted of phones, computers or other electrical machinery and equipment. Clothing and other finished goods made up 13 % of imports, and services about 16 %.

As of 2019, Finnish parent companies had established a total of 254 subsidiaries in China, a number representing over 10 % of all Finnish subsidiaries outside the EU. Their total net sales in 2019 were around 13 billion euros and employed a total of 62,600 people. The workers at Finnish subsidiaries in China represent about a fifth of the total personnel working for Finnish subsidiaries outside the EU.

China’s share of Finland’s total imports rose to nearly 8 % in 2021

Sources: Statistics Finland and BOFIT.