ABSTRACT

Within a couple of years of the deep recession of the early 1990s, the Finnish economy showed positive growth again, manufacturing reached a growth rate of 12 per cent in 1994. Behind this sudden upturn was the exceptionally fast growth of industries related to information and communications technologies (ICT). Whereas in 1970 the electric and electronics industries represented just 2 per cent of Finnish exports as a whole, the corresponding figure was 11 per cent in 1990, and as much as 30 per cent in 1999. Similarly, the balance of trade in high-tech products changed from a deficit in the beginning of 1990s to a notable surplus by the end of the century.