Foreign investments in Finland are far lower than in neighbouring Sweden.
Foreign investments in Finland rose by 2.4 billion euros last year, according to Invest in Finland, a division of the state-owned Business Finland. Foreign direct investments (FDI) totalled 83.5 billion euros at the end of last year.
Despite the improvement, additional investments are sorely needed, Invest in Finland said on Wednesday. Foreign investments in Finland account for approximately 30 percent of GDP. That’s far lower than in neighbouring Sweden, where the corresponding figure is 74 percent.
Sweden is also responsible for about a quarter of all FDIs in Finland, followed by the UK, the US, Denmark and Norway.
Stable operating environment essential, despite political changes
“Many large projects have been announced, for which investment decisions may have already been made, such as data centres and green transition projects. However, they are not yet reflected in the official figures, because only actual capital flows are included in the official figures. Investment processes are long and often take years to be realised,” Kaija Laitinen, a senior market intelligence advisor at Invest in Finland, said in a statement issued Wednesday.
“For investment projects to be realised, it is important that Finland maintains a stable, predictable operating environment across government terms,” she added. The current government led by Prime Minister Petteri Orpo (NCP) is expected to remain in office until the spring of 2027.
In the first eight months of this year, the number of foreign companies investing in Finland rose by 62 compared to the same period of 2024, rising from 238 to 300.
This year, these have primarily focused on business services, health and care services, retail, digitalisation and cleantech, Laitinen said.