22.04.2021
ICT Cluster Boosts Growth in Northern Ostrobothnia
Northern Ostrobothnia strengthens its position as an ICT region
The industrial sectors in Northern Ostrobothnia recovered well towards the end of the year. The uncertainty of the summer turned to strong growth especially in the ICT cluster, the wood products industry and perhaps surprisingly also in the metal cluster. Correspondingly, the net sales of construction, which had been growing for a long time, started to fall clearly, while the decrease in the number of personnel levelled off. The decline in construction is not due to seasonal fluctuations, but to weakening cyclical conditions.
The services-intensive sectors have been hit hardest by the coronavirus, which is reflected in the development of the tourism workforce. Although domestic tourism recovered rapidly, demand for services has not started to rise. The strong growth in the number of staff in the private welfare cluster has also come to a halt. The creative economy cluster recovered well from the summer's grounding. In Northern Ostrobothnia, the cluster is closely linked to industry and construction, not so much to the event and art sectors, which have suffered a lot from the coronavirus.
Anticipation exercise tackles uncertainty
In the spring of 2020, the Regional Assembly of Oulu Region carried out anticipation related to the future of clusters in an uncertain situation, which also included changes in net sales and the development of the number of personnel. It can be seen from recent cyclical data that the coronavirus has left even stronger traces in different clusters than anticipated. For the ICT cluster, we anticipated a bright future, but we could not see such a strong rise. The positive vibe of the wood cluster also surprised us. The difficult times of tourism were known, but there was no change in the number of employees and turnover. At the end of the year, the construction was expected to be better. The foresight exercise was largely successful and the future of industries and clusters will continue to be discussed.
Clusters in Change
Interesting changes can be found in the cluster structure data at the end of the publication. From 2018 to 2019, the ICT cluster's net sales grew by over EUR 1 billion. It was only at this stage that Northern Ostrobothnia grew to become a more significant ICT region than its population, even though, due to the success of the turn of the millennium, it is often thought that our share is larger. In the turnover and number of employees of the wood cluster, we are still a larger region than we have assembled, although the shares have decreased. Structural and cyclical data also show a pick-up in exports.
You can download the publication from the link: https://www.pohjois-pohjanmaa.fi/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/Suhdannetiedot_joulukuulle_2020.pdf
All business cycle publications and the latest economic cycles can be found in the charts: Business cycle monitoring - Regional Assembly of Oulu Region (pohjois-pohjanmaa.fi)
