|
Finland GROWTH AND STRUCTURE OF THE ECONOMY
During the seven decades after the establishment of the
republic in 1917, Finland made remarkable economic
progress. At
the time of the collapse of the Russian Empire in 1917,
the Grand
Duchy of Finland had the most backward economy in Nordic
Europe.
Situated at the outer edges of the spheres of influence of
the
major European industrial powers--Britain, Germany, and
Sweden--
newly independent Finland appeared destined to remain a
poor,
peripheral area. By the late 1980s, however, the country
had
become one of the world's advanced industrial societies,
the
citizens of which enjoyed a high standard of living and
the
industries of which dominated world markets for
significant hightechnology products. Finland was an industrial society,
but it
was self-sufficient in staple foods and produced a wide
range of
goods and services for domestic and export markets.
Although the
economy still depended on exports, the Finns had developed
markets in both Eastern and Western Europe, avoiding
excessive
dependence on any single market.
Data as of December 1988
|
