Finnish equities have delivered an unexpected performance, and Timo Heikkilä, a co-founder of investment information platform Sijoittaja.fi, sets out to explain the reasons behind the rally in a new column. 

The OMX Helsinki 25 index returned 35.2 percent in 2025, outpacing Europe’s 25.8 percent and far exceeding the 3 percent achieved by US equities in euro terms, Heikkilä wrote in a column for Arvo today.

The strength is striking because it runs counter to the domestic backdrop. Finland’s economy has struggled for four consecutive years, with unemployment among the highest in Europe. Yet equity markets, as Heikkilä reminds readers, rarely move in lockstep with the real economy.

Part of the explanation lies in timing. Helsinki’s stock market endured a prolonged decline beginning in late 2021, creating a low base from which the recent rally could build. “When you rebound from the bottom, percentage returns look strong,” Heikkilä writes. In relative terms, Finnish equities had also lagged global peers for years, making a period of catch-up almost inevitable.