Finland: manufacturing output, jobs, productivity and costs in 2026
Finland has the cheapest industrial electricity and the slowest-rising labour cost in Western Europe, and no published 2025 AI figure for its manufacturers.
| Indicator | Finland | EU-27 | Year | Dataset |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Manufacturing gross value added | EUR 39,913.0 m | EUR 2,668,790.0 m | 2025 | nama_10_a10 |
| Share of total gross value added | 16.2% | 15.8% | 2025 | nama_10_a10 |
| Persons employed in manufacturing | 342,900 | 29,901,580 | 2025 | nama_10_a10_e |
| Value added per person employed | EUR 116.4k | EUR 89.3k | 2025 | derived |
| Manufacturing enterprises, all sizes | 28,539 | 2,168,163 | 2023 | sbs_ovw_act |
| Hourly labour cost | EUR 43.6 | EUR 35.0 | 2025 | lc_lci_lev |
| Electricity, band ID | EUR 0.0846/kWh | EUR 0.1920/kWh | 2025-S2 | nrg_pc_205 |
| Manufacturers using at least one AI technology | n/r | 17.3% | 2025 | isoc_eb_ain2 |
Source: Eurostat, datasets as listed, extracted 22 September 2026.
Output and trend
Manufacturing gross value added went from EUR 39,210.0 million in 2024 to EUR 39,913.0 million in 2025, +1.8% in current prices (nama_10_a10), just below the EU-27 rate of +2.0%. The series is not deflated, so this is close to flat in volume terms.
Manufacturing is 16.2% of total Finnish gross value added, slightly above the EU-27 figure of 15.8%. Finnish manufacturing is about half the size of Austria's in value.
Employment
Employment slipped from 344,500 in 2024 to 342,900 in 2025, about 1,600 jobs, 0.5% (nama_10_a10_e), a smaller fall than the EU-27 average of 0.7% and much smaller than Germany, Austria or Belgium, which each lost more than 2%.
Value added per person employed
EUR 116.4 thousand per person employed in 2025 against EUR 89.3 thousand for the EU-27, 1.30 times the EU level and within EUR 100 of Austria (EUR 116.5k). For the whole economy, tesem160 puts Finland at 105.6 against EU-27 = 100 in both 2024 and 2025.
The three largest sub-sectors
| Rank | Sub-sector (NACE) | Value added 2023 | Share |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Machinery n.e.c. (C28) | EUR 6,908 m | 17.5% |
| 2 | Wood, paper, printing (C16 to C18) | EUR 4,246 m | 10.8% |
| 3 | Computer, electronic, optical (C26) | EUR 4,226 m | 10.7% |
| 4 | Chemicals (C20) | EUR 3,537 m | 9.0% |
| 5 | Fabricated metal (C25) | EUR 3,373 m | 8.6% |
Source: Eurostat nama_10_a64, B1G, CP_MEUR, 2023. Shares against the Finnish NACE C total for 2023 (EUR 39,433 m). Positions 2 and 3 are separated by EUR 20 million.
Machinery n.e.c. leads, as in Austria, Italy and the Netherlands, and no single sub-sector dominates the way pharmaceuticals does in Denmark. Machinery, electronics and fabricated metal are discrete, high-mix work: setups, short runs, short stops. Wood, paper and printing is the opposite, continuous and energy-intensive, so a national average tells a Finnish plant manager very little.
Labour cost per hour: the slowest rise in the group
| Year | Finland | EU-27 | Sweden | Denmark |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2023 | EUR 41.5 | EUR 32.1 | EUR 42.9 | EUR 51.6 |
| 2024 | EUR 42.0 | EUR 33.8 | EUR 44.5 | EUR 53.4 |
| 2025 | EUR 43.6 | EUR 35.0 | EUR 47.2 | EUR 55.0 |
| Change 2023 to 2025 | +5.1% | +9.0% | +10.0% | +6.6% |
Source: Eurostat lc_lci_lev, unit EUR, lcstruct D1_D4_MD5, NACE C, 2023 to 2025. Changes calculated from the rows above.
A Finnish manufacturing hour cost EUR 43.6 in 2025, 1.25 times the EU-27 average and the lowest of the four Nordic and Germanic countries here. The two-year increase of 5.1% is the slowest in this group, roughly half the Swedish rise. Finland's position against its neighbours improved in both cost and energy terms between 2023 and 2025.
Electricity: the cheapest in the set
| Period | Finland | EU-27 | Sweden | Denmark |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2025-S1 | EUR 0.0875 | EUR 0.1969 | EUR 0.1048 | EUR 0.2768 |
| 2025-S2 | EUR 0.0846 | EUR 0.1920 | EUR 0.1065 | EUR 0.2732 |
| Change | -3.3% | -2.5% | +1.6% | -1.3% |
Source: Eurostat nrg_pc_205, siec E7000, nrg_cons MWH2000-19999, tax I_TAX, currency EUR, unit KWH.
EUR 0.0846/kWh is the lowest industrial electricity price in this seventeen-country set: 44% of the EU-27 average and 31% of the Danish price. Finland is the one country here where an energy-saving business case for production monitoring is close to worthless in euro terms. Energy data is still worth collecting for reporting duties and for customer questionnaires, but the savings will not pay for the project. Throughput and labour will.
Vacancies and labour shortage: the sharpest contradiction in the set
| Measure | Finland | EU-27 | Dataset, period |
|---|---|---|---|
| Manufacturing job vacancy rate, annual | 0.9% (1.0% in 2024) | 1.5% (1.8%) | jvs_a_rate_r2, 2025 |
| Manufacturing job vacancy rate, quarterly | 0.6% then 0.6% | 1.5% then 1.5% | jvs_q_nace2, 2025-Q3 and Q4 |
| Manufacturers naming labour as a limit on production | 11.0% then 15.0% | 15.8% then 18.0% | ei_bsin_q_r2, 2026-Q2 and Q3 |
Sources: Eurostat jvs_a_rate_r2, jvs_q_nace2 (indicator JVR) and ei_bsin_q_r2 (indicator BS-FLP3-PC). The survey rows are 2026 quarters and are not on the same time base as the annual rate.
Finland has the second lowest manufacturing vacancy rate in this group, 0.9%, behind only Spain, and the lowest quarterly rate at 0.6%. Yet 15.0% of Finnish manufacturers named labour as a factor limiting production in 2026-Q3, third highest here after the Netherlands and Germany. Almost no open posts, and one manufacturer in seven says labour limits output.
The two series are measuring different things, and neither should be quoted alone. The reading that fits both is a shortage of specific skills, maintenance and process technicians above all, rather than a shortage of people willing to work.
AI and ICT adoption: the manufacturing figure is withheld
| Enterprises using at least one AI technology | 2024 | 2025 |
|---|---|---|
| Finland, all sectors | 24.4% | 37.8% |
| Finland, manufacturing | 20.8% | n/r |
| EU-27, manufacturing | 10.6% | 17.3% |
Source: Eurostat isoc_eb_ai (all sectors) and isoc_eb_ain2 (NACE C), indicator E_AI_TANY, GE10.
The Digital Intensity Index (isoc_e_dii) and robot density per 10,000 manufacturing employees are also n/r for Finland on this page: not retrieved in this pass, nothing substituted.
What this means for a plant in Finland
- Do not sell yourself an energy payback. At EUR 0.0846/kWh the kilowatt-hours saved by catching idle machines are worth little. Measure energy for reporting, and build the case on output per shift.
- Your cost advantage against Sweden and Denmark is widening. Labour rose 5.1% in two years against 10.0% in Sweden, and power costs less than a third of the Danish price.
- High-mix losses, not breakdowns. Machinery, electronics and fabricated metal are 36.8% of national manufacturing value added. Setup time and short stops are where the minutes go.
- Skills, not headcount. A 0.9% vacancy rate with 15.0% of manufacturers naming labour as a limit points at technician skills. Recorded stop reasons keep that knowledge in the plant.
- Quote your own numbers, not a national AI rate. Finland has no published 2025 manufacturing AI figure, so any benchmark you have been shown is the all-sector number or an estimate.
Every indicator on this page for 17 European countries and EU-27, each row carrying its Eurostat dataset code and link. Excel.
- Western Europe manufacturing data 2026 (hub)
- Smart factory: what changes on the shop floor
- Western Europe Manufacturing Data Pack 2026 (xlsx)
- Austria manufacturing data 2026
- Belgium manufacturing data 2026
- Denmark manufacturing data 2026
- Sweden manufacturing data 2026
- Türkiye manufacturing data 2026
- Germany manufacturing data 2026
- Netherlands manufacturing data 2026
- Central and Eastern Europe manufacturing data
Questions
- Why is there no 2025 AI figure for Finnish manufacturing?
- Eurostat withholds it. The cell for Finland, NACE C, 2025 in isoc_eb_ain2 carries the flag u, low reliability, and no value is released. The all-sector figure of 37.8% is published but covers every sector, and the 2024 manufacturing figure of 20.8% has not been carried forward.
- How cheap is industrial electricity in Finland?
- EUR 0.0846/kWh in the second half of 2025 in band ID (2,000 to 19,999 MWh per year), excluding VAT and other recoverable taxes: the lowest of the seventeen countries covered here, 44% of the EU-27 average and 31% of the Danish price. Source: Eurostat nrg_pc_205.
- How large is Finnish manufacturing?
- EUR 39,913.0 million of gross value added in 2025 at current prices, 16.2% of the Finnish total, with 342,900 persons employed and 28,539 manufacturing enterprises of all sizes in 2023. Sources: Eurostat nama_10_a10, nama_10_a10_e, sbs_ovw_act.
- Is there a labour shortage in Finnish manufacturing?
- The two series disagree. The manufacturing vacancy rate is 0.9% for 2025 and 0.6% in the last two published quarters, among the lowest in Europe, while 15.0% of manufacturers named labour as a factor limiting production in 2026-Q3. That pattern points to a skills shortage rather than unfilled operator posts.
Sources
- Eurostat nama_10_a10 (B1G, CP_MEUR, NACE C and TOTAL), 2024 to 2025
- Eurostat nama_10_a10_e (EMP_DC, THS_PER, NACE C), 2024 to 2025
- Eurostat nama_10_a64 (B1G, CP_MEUR), 2023
- Eurostat sbs_ovw_act (ENT_NR, NACE C), 2023
- Eurostat lc_lci_lev (EUR, D1_D4_MD5, NACE C), 2023 to 2025
- Eurostat nrg_pc_205 (E7000, MWH2000-19999, I_TAX, EUR/kWh), 2025-S1 and 2025-S2
- Eurostat jvs_a_rate_r2 (NACE C, annual average), 2024 to 2025
- Eurostat jvs_q_nace2 (JVR, NACE C, NSA), 2025-Q3 and 2025-Q4
- Eurostat ei_bsin_q_r2 (BS-FLP3-PC, NSA), 2026-Q2 and 2026-Q3
- Eurostat isoc_eb_ai and isoc_eb_ain2 (E_AI_TANY, PC_ENT, GE10), 2024 to 2025
- Eurostat tesem160 (NLPR_HW, PC_EU27_2020_MPPS_CP), 2024 to 2025
Published by TEEPTRAK SAS, which makes production-monitoring and OEE software. Every figure is sourced on the page. Funding rules, standards and reporting duties change: check the official documents before you budget or commit.