Export companies' expectations for next year are significantly more positive than at the same time last year.
Among firms that responded to a Chamber of Commerce poll, 60 percent expect exports to grow in 2025. That’s up from 43 percent in late 2023. Meanwhile the share of companies that expect exports to decline fell by half, from 20.5 to 11 percent.
"There’s been a clear, positive change for the better," Päivi Pohjanheimo, Director of International Affairs & Trade at Finland’s Chamber of Commerce, said on Monday.
"This is largely due to the general expectation and forecasts of improvement in the global economy in the coming year, but also to the companies' own actions, such as expansion into new markets, new products and development activities," she said.
Growth seen in cleantech, energy and digitalisation
Companies saw clean technologies and low-carbon solutions, energy technology and digitalisation as growth areas, said Pohjanheimo, noting that Finnish companies have expertise in these areas.
On the downside, companies are concerned by familiar problems such as weakened demand, rising costs and uncertainty in the global economic situation – which worried nearly 85 percent of companies in the survey.
Among other issues, they mentioned concerns about possible US tariffs and other trade policy decisions by incoming president Donald Trump, who returns to the White House six weeks from now.
Nearly two-thirds of respondents said that geopolitical uncertainty and disruptions have impacted their companies' profitability. Some said they have been bracing for such uncertainty by boosting information security and political risk assessments while diversifying their supply chains.
The survey was conducted in late November and early December, with responses from 109 Finnish firms.
A survey published by the Confederation of Finnish Industries (EK) In late November, showed growing confidence in most Finnish business sectors besides retail.
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