In 2025, the global economy was overshadowed by geopolitical tensions. Nevertheless, inflation came down in the euro area and this allowed monetary policy to be eased. Despite the lowering of key European Central Bank interest rates, economic growth was slow.
This section of the report contains the following headings:
- What was 2025 like for the global economy?
- What was 2025 like for the euro area economy?
- What was 2025 like for Finland’s economy?
- What did the European Central Bank focus on in 2025?
- What did the Bank of Finland focus on in 2025?
- Read more about the Bank of Finland’s work in 2025
What was 2025 like for the world economy?
In 2025, the global economy was overshadowed by geopolitical tensions, especially the continuation of Russia’s war in Ukraine. The global economy was burdened with a series of tariff threats from the United States. A decline in energy prices nevertheless brought some relief to the economic situation.
What was 2025 like for the euro area economy?
The euro area economy was affected by the same challenges as the global economy, namely geopolitical and trade policy tensions. Despite this, euro area central banks were able to bring inflation down to near the 2% target. This made it possible for monetary policy to be eased.
What was 2025 like for Finland’s economy?
Finland’s annual rate of economic growth for 2025 was almost non-existent. The fall in inflation and the lowering of interest rates strengthened households’ purchasing power, but the uncertain outlook kept private investment subdued. Although growth in exports provided support to the economy, the general government deficit continued to deepen and the public debt grew further.
What did the European Central Bank focus on in 2025?
In its strategy assessment, the European Central Bank (ECB) reconfirmed the inflation target of 2%. In its statements, the ECB stressed the importance of preparedness in a volatile environment, particularly in view of geopolitical risks. In 2025, the ECB eased its monetary policy stance through measures such as lowering the key interest rates, which it did on four occasions.
What issues did the Bank of Finland focus on during 2025?
The Bank of Finland strengthened the Finnish financial system’s risk resilience by further developing its macroprudential policy and the compilation of statistics, and by providing recommendations on risk management. It also developed new technological solutions for monitoring financial stability and for expanding the financing of environmentally friendly investments.
More information on all these matters is given in this Annual Report of Operations under the six different sections listed below.
Read more about the Bank of Finland’s work in 2025
This section contains information about the operating environment in 2025 for the global, euro and Finnish economies, and on the state of these economies during the year.
This section provides information about the preparation of monetary policy for the euro area and the monetary policy stance in 2025, and about measures to support these.
This section focuses on financial stability risks and risk resilience, and on the related measures taken in 2025.
The section gives details about the payments policy that was updated in 2025, and about cash supply, digital payments and central banks’ TARGET services.
This section sets out information on the increase in financial assets in 2025, the safeguarding of capital adequacy, and the climate targets for investment activities.
This section looks at monetary policy implementation, the risks associated with ensuring financial stability and the functioning of the financial system, and the management of those risks.
Would you like to read about how the Bank of Finland is organised, and about its tasks and functioning? Go to the section headed Bank of Finland.
