Meat, milk power lead Finland's food exports to China in 2020

Increase in meat exports to China was a key part of the overall growth of Finnish food exports in 2020, Business Finland, a governmental body for promoting trade and innovation, said on Monday.

According to the statistics released by Business Finland, Finnish exports in the food and beverage sector increased by seven percent year-on-year in 2020. The most significant export growth in this sector -- 78 percent -- was achieved in the Chinese market.

Business Finland noted that the total export value of the sector was 1.77 billion euros (2.11 billion U.S. dollars), with China making up around eight percent, second only to Sweden.

The growth was virtually driven by significantly increased exports of milk powder and pork from Finland, Nina Kopola, director general of Business Finland, indicated.

Esa Wrang, head of the Food Program at Business Finland, said earlier there were fears in the industry that the COVID-19 epidemic could hamper food and drink exports, but no decisive decline had been seen in any markets.

Wrang said Finland aims at doubling the value of food exports to three billion by 2025.

The food industry is the fourth-largest industrial sector in Finland. (1 euro = 1.19 U.S. dollars)