Bioeconomy
In Finland, bioeconomy refers to an economy that relies on renewable, biological natural resources in a resource-wise manner to produce food, energy, products and services. The most important renewable, biological resources in Finland are the biomass, i.e. the organic matter, in the forests, soil, fields, water systems and the sea, and fresh water. These are used as raw materials and derivates. Ecosystem services are part of the bioeconomy. The bioeconomy can also include the development and production of technologies, applications and services based on the sustainable exploitation of natural resources.
The bioeconomy is an exceptionally important sector in Finland. Finland is a bioeconomy country. In 2023, it created a value added of EUR 29.3 billion per year, accounting for 12 % of the value added generated in the national economy.
Finland’s bioeconomy strategy’s “Sustainably towards higher value added” (updated in 2022) main objective is to increase the value added by the bioeconomy. The objective of the strategy is to accelerate the annual growth of the bioeconomy’s value added from 3% to 4%. The aim is to create economic growth and jobs based on sustainable solutions by producing the highest possible value added products and services.
Strategic focus areas of the bioeconomy strategy
Measures of the bioeconomy strategy
The aim of the Bioeconomy Strategy is to create economic growth and jobs based on sustainable solutions by producing products and services of the highest possible value added. The aim is also to increase the resource-efficient use and recycling of materials, to utilise side streams and to reduce dependence on non-renewable - especially fossil-based - raw materials.
Research plays a key role in identifying the growth and potential of the bioeconomy as well as in demonstrating new utilisation paths. Without the competence and experts created by national research, new knowledge on the bioeconomy generated globally could not be utilised.
The bioeconomy’s operating environment is determined by the national, EU-level and international operating environment and the related legal and policy environments. Bioeconomy investments require a fairly long payback period, and actors must be able to rely on the predictability of the legal and policy environment.
Bioresources refer to all bio-based materials such as plants, animals, microbes and bio-based process side streams. Sustainable biomass production based on Finland’s abundant renewable resources and water systems provides a solid basis for bioeconomy value chains, the most important of which are currently agriculture, the food system, forestry, forest-based products and materials, wood construction, wood products and bioenergy, as well as food, energy and other commodities produced from water.
The industrial structure of the bioeconomy is increasingly cross-sectoral. The introduction of solutions will require the creation of new types of value chains across traditional sectoral boundaries. However, the increase in value added will also be examined by sector, which will facilitate monitoring with existing instruments. Measures related to increasing value added have been examined in the following sectors: forest, food, energy, water and water biomass, bioeconomy services, textiles and clothing industry and chemical industry.
Bioeconomy and the EU
In recent years, Finland has worked systematically to ensure that the bioeconomy becomes an integral part of the European Union’s industrial policy and its related instruments.
Finland, together with several other Member States, has presented to the European Commission the key needs for advancing the bioeconomy. The non-papers prepared in 2024 highlighted, among other things, the need to harmonise the concepts of bioeconomy and biotechnology and to ensure Europe’s global leadership in the bioeconomy.
The EU’s new bioeconomy strategy
On 27 November 2025, the European Commission published a new strategic framework for a competitive and sustainable EU bioeconomy. This strategy is no longer a research-driven programme but a clear ambition to build an industrial-scale market for bio-based solutions and to provide a predictable environment for investments. It also underlines that the bioeconomy is no longer merely a testbed for isolated projects.
The bioeconomy strategy emphasises the scaling up of investments, strengthening of bio-based markets, ensuring sustainable biomass availability, and making full use of global opportunities.
Finland considers the EU’s new bioeconomy strategy positive and aligned with Finland’s national objectives. Finland views the strategy as providing a solid foundation for a competitive and sustainable EU bioeconomy. Finland supports the strategy’s objectives of generating higher value added, commercialising innovations, and improving competitiveness - objectives that are also central to Finland’s national bioeconomy strategy.
Strengthening the EU’s resilience requires investments in renewable bioproduction, the utilisation of side streams and bio-waste, and the promotion of circular economy solutions. Furthermore, it is essential to ensure socially, economically, and environmentally sustainable production of biomass and bio-based products, even under conditions of growing demand.
From Finland’s perspective, it is important that permitting procedures related to bioeconomy investments, as well as approval processes for bio-based products, are streamlined and accelerated through clearer and simpler regulation, without lowering the level of environmental or health protection.
Finland considers it essential that the Union continues to pursue coherent policy measures aimed at mitigating climate change, supporting climate adaptation, and enhancing biodiversity.
Finland emphasises the importance of consolidating the role of bioeconomy policy through the EU’s new bioeconomy strategy and its implementation, ensuring that the bioeconomy becomes an established part of EU policy formulation and execution to realise the 2040 vision of the EU Bioeconomy Strategy.
Finland aligns with the Commission’s view that workforce skills are a key factor in the development and renewal capacity of the bioeconomy. To address skills shortages, several effective cooperation models have emerged at EU level in recent years, and it is important to continue making full use of them.
The Finnish Bioeconomy Strategy. Sustainably towards higher value added
A Strategic Framework for a Competitive and Sustainable EU Bioeconomy
Non-paper – Key Actions for Bioeconomy in the EU
Further information:
Ulla Palander
ulla.palander(at)gov.fi