HELSINKI: The value of exports from Finland to Russia continued to plummet in 2015, suggest preliminary statistics published by the Finnish Customs on Monday.
The Finnish Customs reported that the value of exports to Russia fell sharply across all categories of export goods, by a total of 34 per cent year-on-year between January and November of 2015. The fall was not quite as severe as the 47 per cent decline in the value of exports to Russia witnessed in 2009 but notably sharper than the 13 per cent decline witnessed in 2014.
In particular, the exports of food, transport equipment and industrial machines dropped over the first eleven months of last year, by 67, 56 and 38 per cent respectively.
Also the value of imports from Russia to Finland dropped notably as a result of the economic sanctions imposed by the European Union, by a total of 32 per cent – one percentage point more than in 2009 – between January and November of 2015.
The value of both exports and imports fell more than the average of member states of the European Union. The total value of exports from the EU to Russia fell by 29 per cent between January and November of 2015, while that of imports from Russia to the EU fell by 26 per cent.
The slowdown in trade with Russia is largely to blame for the decline in the value of all goods exported from Finland in 2015, according to the Finnish Customs. The preliminary statistics indicate that the value of all exports dropped by four per cent to 53.5 billion euros while that of all imports dropped by six per cent to 54.2 billion euros over the first eleven months of last year.
“The decline in total exports is attributable especially to two factors: the severe fall in the value of exported oil products and the notable decline in exports to Russia,” the Finnish Customs states in a press release. The statistics are noteworthy especially in light of the fact that the value of exports remained unchanged and that of imports only decreased by one per cent in 2014.
