Order intakes strengthen significantly in the last quarter

According to preliminary estimates, the turnover of mechanical engineering companies (machinery, metal products and vehicles) in Finland decreased by around 2 per cent in 2025 from 2024. Their turnover in Finland amounted to approximately EUR 38 billion in 2025.

The value of new orders in mechanical engineering in the October–December period was 64 per cent higher than in the previous quarter. Year-on-year, the value of new orders increased by 13 per cent. This growth is largely due to a very valuable ship order during the quarter and a few other high-value orders. The last time a ship of this size was delivered to a customer was in June 2025. At that time, ship exports saw a one-time increase of almost two billion euros.

At the end of December, the value of order books was 12 per cent higher than at the end of September and 27 per cent higher than in December 2024. It should be noted that shipyards have an exceptionally large share of the total value of order books.

The defence industry, which is part of the mechanical engineering industry, has received major orders, some of which have been reported in news media. It is currently not certain where and how these orders will eventually be manufactured, and thus these orders are not recognised for the time being in the new orders received by the mechanical engineering industry. In principle, for an order to be included in the figures for new orders and the order books of the technology industry, it must be produced in Finland.

On the basis of order trends at the end of last year, the turnover of mechanical engineering companies is expected to start rising this year.

The number of personnel employed by mechanical engineering companies in Finland grew by 0.8 per cent in 2025 from the 2024 average. The industry employed 137,000 people on average in 2025, about 500 more than in the previous year. At the end of December, the number of personnel was 137,600.