Exports decrease by 17% in Q3

International trade in goods and services fell clearly in the third quarter of 2020 compared with the corresponding quarter in the previous year, according to Statistic Finland.

Compared to the third quarter of 2019, exports of goods and services decreased by 17 per cent in the past quarter, while imports went down by 15 per cent.

In other words, the value of exports fell by EUR 4.0 billion year-on-year and imports correspondingly by EUR 3.6 billion.

Goods were both exported from Finland and imported to Finland to the tune of around EUR 14 billion in the third quarter of 2020. Exports of services amounted to EUR 5.6 billion and imports to EUR 6.3 billion.

When comparing exports in the past quarter and in the second quarter of 2020, the situation has not changed significantly. In the past quarter, the value of exports of goods was EUR 0.1 billion higher, while exports of services decreased only slightly. The value of service imports fell by EUR 0.1 billion but imports of goods, in turn, were EUR 1.0 billion higher in the third quarter of 2020 than in the second quarter.

However, compared to the third quarter of 2019, international trade decreased clearly. In addition, the levels of exports and imports were lower in the past quarter than in the corresponding quarters of 2017 and 2018.

The contraction of international trade from the previous year was relatively stronger in services than in goods. Exports and imports of services went down by 32 and 22 per cent relative to the quarter one year ago, while exports and imports of goods respectively decreased by 9 and 11 per cent. A large part of the fall in service exports is due to the clear decrease in exports of transport and travel.