Growth started later in Finland, and was subsequently more rapid, than in other Western European countries. In the 1860s, Finland was a very poor and underdeveloped country, behind most other European nations. Most of the population was employed in agriculture. The state of the agriculture was backward, and the short growing season and disadvantageous weather conditions made harvests uncertain.
However as banks have flourished in number, there is increasing evidence that banks will find it difficult to maintain the pace of innovation that marked the 1990s. Islamic banks seem to be increasingly focused on real estate and asset finance but not moving into other financial or liquid instruments with active secondary markets.