HELSINKI (dpa-AFX) - Finland's economy contracted in the first quarter after expanding for two straight quarters, preliminary data from Statistics Finland showed on Friday.
Gross domestic product edged down 0.1 percent, following a 0.4 percent rise in the fourth quarter and 3.2 percent expansion in the third quarter.
GDP has dropped 1 percent in the first quarter from the same period of last year. The expenditure-side breakdown showed that exports decreased 5 percent, while imports grew 1.4 percent.
Private consumption was down 0.7 percent sequentially. On the other hand, gross fixed capital formation grew 1.4 percent.
Copyright RTT News/dpa-AFX