Finland’s economy dubbed ‘the sick man of Europe’ by Finance Minister Alexander Stubb

A chronically depressed economy, rising unemployment and an aversion to free-market reforms. Sound like a familiar European tale? But not Greece, Spain or Portugal. It’s Finland.

As the indebted and ailing countries in the eurozone’s southern rim struggle out of their six-year crisis, some with more success than others, Finland is succumbing to its own.

Its economy, which has contracted every year since 2012, was the worst performer in the common-currency area in the first three quarters of 2015, according to Eurostat data.