The Product Structure of Finnish Goods Exports Has Been Unfavourable

Finland’s share of the total value of global goods exports decreased from 0.72 per cent to 0.35 per cent between 2002 and 2024. The decline in the market share can be divided into three roughly equal parts: forest industry products, mobile phones, and other products. The market shares of older industrialised countries have generally been eroded by weak performance compared to emerging economies. However, most other industrialised countries have been able to compensate for this decline with a favourable product mix in terms of global demand developments. In contrast, Finland’s export product structure has been unfavourable from the perspective of global demand. As a result, the combined effect of performance and product structure on the overall change in Finland’s world market share of exports has been the second most negative among the 42 largest exporting countries. According to the results, export performance in European countries has been supported particularly by investments in machinery and equipment, ICT and intangible investments, as well as a stronger presence of multinational companies. The negative impact of Finland’s export product structure on overall market shares emphasizes the need for the renewal of companies and the products they produce, along with a stronger understanding of the markets and their development.