Exports and imports of goods both increased in March

In March, the trade deficit was 234 million euros, which is 34 million euros less than in the same month last year.

Jane Leppmets, foreign trade statistics analyst at Statistics Estonia, said that, in the first quarter, exports of goods increased by 4% and imports by 3% compared with the first quarter of 2025. “The increased exports in the first quarter resulted mainly from the 11% rise in re-exports, while the exports of goods of Estonian origin were unchanged year on year. Re-exports – that is, the exports of previously imported goods – were boosted the most by the increased exports of precious metals, including gold and investment coins,” added Leppmets.
 

Finland was the top export partner in March

The main commodities exported in March were electrical equipment (16% of Estonia’s total exports), agricultural products and food preparations (11%), wood and articles of wood (10%), mineral products (10%) and transport equipment (10%). Year on year, the biggest rise was seen in the exports of electrical equipment, including communication equipment – up by 59 million euros, or 26%. In March, exports of optical, measuring and precision instruments decreased the most – by 13 million euros. 

Estonia’s top export partner in March was Finland (14% of total exports), followed by Latvia (11%), Lithuania (9%) and Sweden (9%). The main commodities exported were electrical equipment and base metals and articles of base metal to Finland, mineral products and transport equipment to Latvia, transport equipment and electrical equipment to Lithuania, and electrical equipment and wood and articles of wood to Sweden. Year on year, the biggest increase occurred in exports of goods to the Netherlands (up by 52 million euros), with more dispatches of shale oil. The biggest decline was registered in exports to Denmark (down by 14 million euros) and to Ukraine (down by 12 million euros). There were fewer exports of wood and articles of wood (incl. pellets) to Denmark, and decreased exports of transport equipment to Ukraine.

Exports of goods of Estonian origin increased by 8% and re-exports by 9% compared with March last year. Goods of Estonian origin represented 65% of total exports in March. The goods of Estonian origin that were exported the most in March were electrical equipment and wood and articles of wood. The top commodity in re-exports was transport equipment.

Imports of base metals and articles of base metal grew the most

The main commodities imported in March were electrical equipment (14% of total imports), transport equipment (13%) and agricultural products and food preparations (13%). Compared with March 2025, the biggest increase was recorded in the imports of base metals and articles of base metal (up by 50 million euros, or 36%) and electrical equipment (up by 48 million euros, or 21%). There was a significant decline only in the imports of mineral products (down by 59 million euros, or 28%), due to decreased arrivals of natural gas and petroleum products.

In March, the top partner countries for Estonia’s imports of goods were Finland (12% of total imports), Germany (11%) and Latvia (10%). The main commodities imported were mineral products from Finland, agricultural products and food preparations from Latvia, and transport equipment from Germany. The biggest rise occurred in imports of goods from Finland (up by 49 million euros), as there were more arrivals of mineral products, including electricity, than last year. The greatest fall was registered in imports of goods from Latvia (down by 39 million euros), which resulted from decreased imports of mineral products, including natural gas.

Electrical equipment was the most exported commodity in the first quarter

In the first quarter, Estonia’s exports of goods amounted to almost 4.9 billion euros and imports to nearly 5.8 billion euros. The trade deficit was 923 million euros, which is 11 million euros more than in the first quarter of 2025. The main commodities exported were electrical equipment, agricultural products and food preparations, and wood and articles of wood. The main commodities imported were electrical equipment, agricultural products and food preparations, mineral products and transport equipment. Estonia’s top trading partners were Finland, Latvia and Sweden in exports, and Finland, Latvia and Germany in imports.

Statistics Estonia performs the statistical activity “Foreign trade” for the Ministry of Economic Affairs and Communications with the aim to determine how exporting and importing enterprises are performing in Estonia.

Data as at 11 May 2026 are published. The indicator values may change if there are any revisions made in the data sources after this date.

See also the foreign trade section on our website. Statistics Estonia’s foreign trade application provides visualised foreign trade data for Estonia.

More detailed data have been published in the statistical database. Due to rounding, the sum of rows in some tables may differ from the sum total of the column.

When using Statistics Estonia’s data and graphs, please indicate the source.

For further information:

Annaliisa Köss
Media Relations Partner
Marketing and Dissemination Department
Statistics Estonia
Tel +372 5696 6484
press [at] stat.ee (press[at]stat[dot]ee)

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