HELSINKI, Nov. 10 (Xinhua) -- Finland's industrial performance showed a mixed trend in September, with new manufacturing orders edging higher even as output declined, official data showed on Monday.
Statistics Finland said new manufacturing orders rose 8.6 percent year-on-year in the first nine months of 2025, while orders in September alone increased 0.9 percent from a year earlier.
The metal industry led the monthly gains with a 5.0 percent rise, followed by paper and paperboard products with 3.7 percent, while the chemical industry dropped 29.0 percent.
The agency said demand has remained resilient this year, particularly in metal and paper-related industries. However, production conditions softened toward the end of the third quarter. It added that monthly data can fluctuate significantly as large contracts are recorded in the reference month.
On the output side, seasonally adjusted industrial production in September fell 0.5 percent from August and, when adjusted for working days, was 1.8 percent lower than a year earlier. Manufacturing output declined 0.4 percent month-on-month and 2.3 percent year-on-year.
Across sectors, output in mining and quarrying grew 12.1 percent from August, while the chemical industry increased by 2.2 percent. Most other main industries saw declines, with the forest industry leading the fall by 4.3 percent.
Commenting on the figures, economist Roope Ohlsbom of the Federation of Finnish Enterprises told the Finnish News Agency (STT) that "growth of orders would probably have been better without the impact of the fluctuating U.S. tariff policies." He added that uncertainty has eased since the spring and "continued growth can be expected."
Finland's industrial and construction sectors are expected to drive the country's economic growth in the coming years, according to a recent sectoral forecast by ETLA Economic Research of Finland. The institute also cautioned that export prospects remain uncertain amid global trade tensions and potential new U.S. import tariffs.
In its broader economic outlook published earlier, ETLA projected Finland's gross domestic product to grow by 0.8 percent in 2025, 1.4 percent in 2026, and 1.2 percent in 2027.
