Finland's Top Imports & Exports 2008
Petroleum and Paper Products are Leading Finnish Exports to US
Oct 9, 2009
Achieving a Gross Domestic Product (GDP) valued at US$274 billion, Finland was the world’s 33rd richest country in 2008.
With a population of 5.3 million Finns who enjoyed an average GDP of $37,200 per person last year, Finland was also the 30th wealthiest nation in terms of GDP per capita.
As the world’s 36th biggest exporter, Finland shipped $96.6 billion worth of exports in 2008. Principal Finnish exports were electrical and optical equipment, machinery, transport equipment, paper, chemicals, basic metals and timber. Based on 2008 statistics, Finland’s largest export clients were Russia (11.6%), Sweden (10%), Germany (10%), the United States (6.4%), the United Kingdom (5.5%) and Netherlands (5.1%).
According to the CIA World Factbook, Finland imported $87.5 billion worth of foreign goods last year. Major commodities imported into Finland include foodstuffs, petroleum, chemicals, transport equipment, iron and steel, textile fabrics and grains. Leading suppliers to Finland were Russia (16.3%), Germany (15.7%), Sweden (13.6%), Netherlands (6.3%), China (5.1%) and the United Kingdom (4.2%).
In total, Finland’s international trade amounted to $184.1 billion or 67.2% in relation to its overall GDP. This compares with roughly 25% for the U.S. and 60% for Canada.
Finnish Trade with the U.S.
Last year, Finnish exports to America rose 12.1% to $5.9 billion. Over that same period, Finland bought $3.8 billion worth of U.S. imports – an increase of 20%.
Therefore, Finland’s trade surplus with the U.S. was $2.1 billion in 2008.
The lists below present the top 10 exports and imports that American and Finnish enterprises exchanged in 2008. The fastest-growing trade product categories are also shown.
Finland’s Top Exports to America
The following 10 Finnish exports garnered 65.8% of the total value of shipments to America from Finland in 2008.
- Other petroleum products … US$1.3 billion, up 60.6% from 2007 (22.1% of US imports from Finland)
- Paper and paper products … $737.4 million, down 7% (12.5%)
- Medicinal, dental and pharmaceutical preparations … $323.2 million, up 29.7% (5.5%)
- Writing and art supplies … $268.8 million, down 4.2% (4.6%)
- Other scientific, medical and hospital equipment … $251.9 million, up 10% (4.3%)
- Oilfield and drilling equipment … $237.5 million, up 22,350% (4%)
- Passenger cars … $231.6 million, down 29.6% (3.9%)
- Other industrial machinery … $218.7 million, up 38.8% (3.7%)
- Generators and transformers … $174.2 million, up 6.7% (3%)
- Materials handling equipment … $130.9 million, down 26.2% (2.2%).
Fastest-Growing Finnish Exports to the U.S.
Three of the 10 fastest-growing Finnish exports to America in 2008 were related to Finland’s petroleum industry.
- Liquified petroleum gases … US$12.9 million, up 143,511% from 2007
- Oilfield and drilling equipment … $237.5 million, up 22,350%
- Farming materials including live animals … $4.1 million, up 1,418%
- Feedstuff and foodgrains… $8.6 million, up 258.9%
- Food and tobacco processing machinery… $3.5 million, up 165.3%
- Household items including furniture and baskets … $37.7 million, up 87.5%
- Agricultural machinery and equipment … $46.8 million, up 71.1%
- Industrial organic chemicals … $9.3 million, up 67.2%
- Other petroleum products … $1.3 billion, up 60.6%
- Measuring, testing and control instruments … $61.1 million, up 53.1%.
Finland’s Top Imports from America
America’s top 10 exports to Finland accounted for 59.3% of total Finnish imports from the U.S.
- Passenger cars … US$1.4 billion, up 53.2% from 2007 (37.3% of US exports to Finland)
- Civilian aircraft … $130.5 million, up 74% (3.5%)
- Telecommunications equipment … $123.9 million, down 6.5% (3.3%)
- Steelmaking materials… $113 million, down 14.5% (3%)
- Pharmaceutical preparations … $79.9 million, up 43.4% (2.1%)
- Computer accessories… $79.4 million, down 24.7% (2.1%)
- Trucks, buses and special purpose vehicles… $78.8 million, up 47.5% (2.1%)
- Manufactured mineral supplies … $76 million, up 1.6% (2%)
- Medicinal equipment… $73.4 million, up 0.6% (2%)
- Materials handling equipment … $71.6 million, up 44.5% (1.9%).
Fastest-Growing Finnish Imports from the U.S.
All 10 of the following American product exports to Finland had triple-digit gains in 2008.
- Dairy products and eggs… US$1.4 million, up 794.9%
- Non-farm tractors and parts… $13.1 million, up 688.9%
- Metallurgical grade coal … $58 million, up 528.7%
- Jewelry… $8.9 million, up482.6%
- Other materials including hair and waste … $1.1 million, up 267.3%
- Passenger car bodies and chassis … $10.8 million, up 256.2%
- Pulpwood … $2.3 million, up 235.7%
- Fish and shellfish… $1 million, up 201%
- Engines and engine parts… $26.1 million, up 191%
- Other agricultural manufactured products … $5.4 million, up 121%.
Comparative Trade Advantages
During 2008, Finland exported $737.4 million worth of paper and paper products to the U.S. while importing no amount of that product category from America.
These Finnish-American trade statistics show that Finland has a strong comparative advantage over the U.S. in the paper-products trade between the 2 nations.
On the other hand, America exported $1.4 billion worth of passenger cars to Finland in 2008 contrasted with U.S. imports of Finnish automobiles worth $231.6 million.
Nickname: land of a thousand lakes (actually 187,888 lakes).
That the U.S. exported about six times the value of Finnish passengers clearly shows that America has a comparative advantage in exporting automobiles to Finland.
Sources
This analysis is based on latest statistics from the US Census Bureau- Foreign Trade Statistics and CIA World Factbook as of the date of article publication.
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