Nearly one in three respondents said they have encountered the “hidden economy” – where taxes are underpaid or not paid at all – within the past two years. This is a slightly higher figure than in previous polls.

“It may be that bank crises and business executives’ greed have led people to believe that immorality in financial matters is permissible,” grey-market expert Markku Hirvonen told Aamulehti.

He estimates that the under-the-counter economy costs the state some 4-6 billion euros annually in lost tax revenues.

Taloustutkimus interviewed more than 1,000 adults Finns by phone and online. The pollster estimates the margin of error at three percentage points.