Timber and related industries are a key component of the economy, accounting for 40 per cent of all Finnish exports, but the country is consequently vulnerable to fluctuations in world market prices and demand levels for timber, paper and finished products such as furniture. Agriculture is relatively important by the standards of most European industrialised economies and Finland enjoys virtual self-sufficiency in basic foodstuffs such as grains, dairy products and root crops. This is despite the country's climatic and geographical conditions which allow a very short growing season. The largest industrial sector is engineering, and although traditional 'metal bashing' industries have been in a strong position by world standards, there has nonetheless been a decline which threw Finland into an unprecedented recession in the early 1990s. Mining is relatively small, although exportable quantities of gold are produced and diamond deposits were discovered in 1994.
Industry is heavily dependent on imported components.
Apart from paper and woodworking, the principal exports are machinery and transport equipment, metal ores and textiles. Engineering products and consumer goods are the country's main imported products. The service sector is notable for the spectacular growth of mobile communications to which Finns are now among the world's highest per capita subscribers. A number of Finnish companies are also prominent in parts of the worldwide telecoms equipment market. Recent economic performance has seen above-EU average annual GDP growth of 6 per cent with low inflation but a high unemployment rate of 11 per cent.