The number of new foreign companies in Finland increased by nearly 300 last year, despite the coronavirus pandemic, according to data released by state agency Business Finland.
In comparison, 250 foreign companies came to Finland in the previous year.
The largest number of new foreign direct investments came from Sweden, Norway and the United Kingdom. Just over half of the investments were in the Uusimaa region.
"Most new foreign investments were in business services and in the ICT sector. The sectors that benefited most from the past year and the coronavirus crisis were health technology, ICT, digital consumer services and logistics," said Antti Aumo, Director of Invest in Finland, which is part of Business Finland, in a press release.
Aumo noted that roughly one percent of companies are foreign-owned, but they have a significant impact on the Finnish economy. A company is recorded as foreign-owned if more than ten percent of its ownership is based abroad.
"According to our estimates, these companies generated a total of more than 1.4 billion euros in corporate tax and 15 billion in VAT revenue for Finland," Aumo stated.
Publicly listed companies were not included in Business Finland's review.