Finland, an EU member since 1995, has redefined itself from a quiet agriculture and forestry-based economy to a trend setting global center for technology and design. The country is highly integrated into the global economy with international trade accounting for a third of its GDP. Finland’s commercial clout far exceeds its modest population of 5.6 million. According to the preliminary data from the ITA Country Report, in 2022, Finland’s GDP was $283 billion with nominal per capita GDP of $50,655. It is the only Nordic country that uses the Euro.

Finland routinely ranks at the very top of international surveys on education, quality of life, competitiveness, and transparency. It sits at the epicenter of Europe’s “New North” – a unique intersection of geography, infrastructure, education, good governance, and high-technology industries. Helsinki, the second most northern capital in the world, has easy connections by rail, sea, and air to Tallinn and Stockholm, and enjoyed easy connections to St. Petersburg prior to the February 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine and consequent EU-wide sanctions that have severed such transport ties between Russia and Finland.

Finland shares an 833-mile-long border and a complicated history with its eastern neighbor and many Finnish companies exited the Russian market in 2022, taking losses on their investments there.

The European Union makes up almost 38,7 percent of Finland’s total trade. Finland’s largest trading partners (imports and exports of goods) in 2022 were Germany, Sweden, China, and the United States. Finland’s key export sectors are transportation, electronics, forestry, machinery, and chemicals. Trade policy is managed by the European Union, where trade dependent Finland has traditionally been an advocate for free trade policies.

In 2022, the United States was the third largest market for Finnish exports and Finland’s seventh largest source of imports. Two-way trade in goods and services between the United States and Finland was about $14.9 billion. Two-way trade in goods alone totaled around $11.4 billion, with U.S. goods exports to Finland totaling $2.7 billion, chiefly computer and electronic products, minerals and ores, transportation equipment, chemicals, and non-electrical machinery. Finnish goods exports to the United States totaled $8.7 billion, chiefly chemicals, non-electrical machinery, petroleum and coal products, paper, and transportation equipment. Two-way trade in services totaled $3.4 billion.

Political Environment

Visit the State Department’s website for background on Finland’s political and economic environment.