Finland needs growth – and companies must deliver it

Recently, much has been said and written about Finland’s lack of growth. And for a reason. Since 2008, our economy has grown only a few percent, while peer countries have moved ahead. According to the Finnish Government’s Kasvuriihi report that was published earlier this year, the root causes are clear: weak productivity growth, limited structural renewal, and too little investment. Without growth, Finland cannot sustain its welfare model, service its debt, or remain competitive.

The solution is simple but not easy: Finland needs its companies to grow. Big or small, every company has a role to play. Growth will not come from our limited domestic market alone — it requires international expansion, bold investments, and a cultural shift from efficiency to renewal.

Below are four priorities that can set Finnish companies, and Finland as a whole, on a new growth path.

1. Owners and boards must emphasize growth, and demand it

Why must boards and owners take responsibility for driving growth? Because growth starts at the top. Boards and owners decide whether growth is an agenda item or an afterthought. Today, many Finnish companies still focus too much on quarterly profitability, dividends, and efficiency.

To change this, boards should:

• Set ambitious growth targets, while not forgetting profitability
• Make growth a permanent agenda item at board meetings.
• Encourage allocating capital for growth initiatives such as R&D, international expansion, and acquisitions.
• Hold leadership accountable for long-term growth, not just short-term performance.

When boards and owners demand growth, organizations will do their best to deliver. Read more about the Board’s role in supporting long-term value creation in companies here.

2. Go international

The Finnish market is just too small to support large-scale growth. Swedish companies have long understood this — international expansion is part of their DNA. For Finnish firms, it must become the same.

How can Finnish companies succeed internationally? To make it happen, companies should:

• Identify target markets early and build entry strategies.
• Invest in sales and partnerships abroad instead of relying only on exports.
• Plan for global scale: validate product–market fit early and design for international growth from the start.
• Hire international talent with market and cultural expertise.

Without bold moves abroad, Finnish companies will always face growth ceilings.

3. Shift the mindset from efficiency to renewal

Finnish companies are often praised for efficiency and strong balance sheets. But efficiency alone does not create growth. Companies must dare to innovate, renew, and take calculated risks.

Practical steps for a growth mindset include:

• Promote a culture of renewal — reward ideas, learning, and agility, not only stability.
• Focus on customer-centric growth — start with the customer, not the product. Understand your target customers and anticipate their evolving needs.
• Increase investments in innovation and R&D — build future products and services that meet the evolving customer needs.
• Encourage risk-taking and experimentation — test new business models and new product or service ideas, accept that some will fail. Learn fast.

Growth comes from creating something new, not from doing the old a bit better.

4. Growth requires investments – Finland can attract way more of them

No company can grow without investments. And no country can grow if investments flow elsewhere. Finland must position itself as a competitive destination for both domestic and foreign direct investment (FDI).

How can Finland attract more investments to fuel growth? To become a stronger investment destination, Finland must:

• Reinvest profits instead of overemphasizing dividends.
• Promote Finland as a hub for R&D and production using strengths like clean energy, stability, and skilled talent.
• Attract FDI with competitive taxation, clear regulation, and strong infrastructure.
• Support green and strategic investments to align with global megatrends.

The good news is that we can do this! As the Finland Fact Pack 2025 shows, Finland already has strong foundations in place — but we must leverage them better to win the next wave of investments.

August is committed to support Finnish companies to grow

At August, we help Finnish companies and their boards turn growth ambition into concrete actions. We are the leading local strategy and transformation consultancy with deep expertise in supporting companies to grow both in Finland and internationally. This mindset is also reflected in our slogan “Brave the future”.

Our services include:

• Growth strategy and opportunity identification
• International expansion and market entry
• Commercial excellence
• Large-scale transformations and organizational change
• Governance models to support growth
• M&A and transaction support

If your company is ready to make growth the core of its long-term value creation, August can help.

Conclusion: growth as Finland’s national project

Finland cannot afford to treat growth as optional. It must be the central project for our companies, boards, owners, and policymakers.

Growth requires ambition. Growth also requires risk-taking. Growth requires investments. And growth requires partners who know how to make it happen.

At August, we are ready to support Finnish companies on this journey.  We will keep posting insights on this topic, including sector deep-dives, as we want to promote this topic that is so important to our Clients and to Finland as a country.

Tomi Ere, Partner
+358 40 823 3848
firstname.lastname@august.fi

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