After seven years of strong growth that culminated in a surge in output of almost 6 per cent in 2000, the Finnish economy was working close to capacity, bottlenecks had emerged and first signs of overheating had appeared. However, since late 2000 activity has turned around sharply. On the basis of monthly figures, output has been lower than a year earlier since June 2001 and year-on-year growth in 2001 is estimated at a meagre ½ per cent. This rupture was largely caused by external factors. The economic slowdown in the United States and Europe led to a sharp contraction in paper exports and weighed heavily on exports of the electronic equipment industry, which also suffered from demand saturation and disappointing sales of new products.