Foreign trade declined further in September
According to Statistics Estonia, in September, Estonia’s exports of goods amounted to almost 1.5 billion and imports to nearly 1.7 billion euros. Compared with the same month in 2022, exports of goods decreased by 24% and imports by 22% at current prices. The trade deficit in September was 207 million euros, which is 13 million euros more than in September last year.
Evelin Puura, the foreign trade statistics team lead at Statistics Estonia, said that, in September, exports and imports decreased significantly in almost all commodity sections. A similar decline in trade has characterised the third quarter has a whole. “In the third quarter, the biggest fall was registered in trade with non-EU countries. Exports to third countries were down by 41% and imports from these countries fell by 44%. The decrease was the greatest in the exports and imports of mineral products. There was also a significant decline in the exports of electrical equipment and wood and articles of wood, and in the imports of base metals and articles of base metal and mechanical appliances,” added Puura.
The main commodities exported in September were electrical equipment (13% of Estonia’s total exports), wood and articles of wood (11%), and transport equipment (11%). The biggest fall was recorded in the exports of mineral products – down by 214 million euros. The exports of electrical equipment decreased by 86 million euros, and the exports of wood and articles of wood by 50 million euros. An increase was seen only in the exports of transport equipment, which rose by 17 million euros.
The share of goods of Estonian origin in exports increased by one percentage point year on year and was 65% of Estonia's total exports in September this year. In September, exports of goods of Estonian origin were 24% lower and reexports 26% lower than in the same month last year. The decline in the exports of goods of Estonian origin resulted primarily from the decreased exports of communication equipment, processed fuel oils and sawn timber.
Estonia’s top export partner in September was Finland (16% of Estonia’s total exports), followed by Latvia (14%) and Sweden (10%). The biggest decline was registered in exports to Latvia (down by 106 million euros), and to the USA (down by 89 million euros). Compared with September last year, there were decreased exports of mineral products (incl. electricity) to Latvia, and fewer dispatches of electrical equipment (incl. communication equipment) to the USA. The greatest increase occurred in exports to the Netherlands and Lithuania, up by 23 million and 16 million euros, respectively. Compared with September 2022, there were more mineral products (incl. shale oil) exported to the Netherlands, and more motor cars and medicaments exported to Lithuania.
The main commodities imported in September were mineral products (14% of Estonia’s total imports), electrical equipment (13%), agricultural products and food preparations (12%), and transport equipment (12%). The biggest fall was recorded in the imports of mineral products – down by 182 million euros. The imports of mechanical appliances and electrical equipment decreased by 51 million and 44 million euros, respectively.
In September, the top partner country for Estonia’s imports of goods was Finland (18% of Estonia’s total imports), followed by Germany (11%) and Lithuania (11%). The main commodities imported were mineral products (incl. natural gas) from Finland, transport equipment (incl. motor cars) from Germany, and mineral products (incl. diesel fuel) from Lithuania. The biggest fall occurred in imports of goods from Latvia (down by 61 million euros), Russia (down by 50 million euros), and Belgium (down by 45 million euros). There were fewer imports of mineral products from Russia, Latvia as well as Belgium.
| Month | Exports, million euros | Imports, million euros | Balance, million euros | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2022 | 2023 | Change, % | 2022 | 2023 | Change, % | 2022 | 2023 | |
| TOTAL | 16,017 | 13,670 | -15 | 18,597 | 15,869 | -15 | -2,579 | -2,200 |
| 1st quarter | 5,131 | 4,725 | -8 | 5,723 | 5,213 | -9 | -592 | -489 |
| January | 1,637 | 1,493 | -9 | 1,782 | 1,655 | -7 | -145 | -162 |
| February | 1,509 | 1,526 | 1 | 1,770 | 1,643 | -7 | -261 | -117 |
| March | 1,985 | 1,706 | -14 | 2,171 | 1,915 | -12 | -186 | -209 |
| 2nd quarter | 5,367 | 4,740 | -12 | 6,510 | 5,573 | -14 | -1,142 | -833 |
| April | 1,601 | 1,499 | -6 | 2,136 | 1,748 | -18 | -536 | -249 |
| May | 1,929 | 1,644 | -15 | 2,229 | 1,968 | -12 | -301 | -324 |
| June | 1,838 | 1,597 | -13 | 2,144 | 1,857 | -13 | -306 | -260 |
| 3rd quarter | 5,519 | 4,205 | -24 | 6,364 | 5,083 | -20 | -845 | -878 |
| July | 1,698 | 1,265 | -26 | 2,049 | 1,642 | -20 | -351 | -377 |
| August | 1,890 | 1,483 | -22 | 2,190 | 1,776 | -19 | -300 | -294 |
| September | 1,931 | 1,458 | -24 | 2,125 | 1,665 | -22 | -194 | -207 |
| Country of destination, group of countries | Exports, million euros | Share, % | Change on previous year, % | Country of consignment, group of countries | Imports, million euros | Share, % | Change on previous year, % |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| TOTAL | 1,458 | 100 | -24 | TOTAL | 1,665 | 100 | -22 |
| EU-27 | 1,118 | 77 | -16 | EU-27 | 1,459 | 88 | -18 |
| Euro area 20 | 845 | 58 | -16 | Euro area 20 | 1,100 | 66 | -19 |
| Non-EU | 340 | 23 | -43 | Non-EU | 206 | 12 | -41 |
| 1. Finland | 229 | 16 | -24 | 1. Finland | 307 | 18 | -13 |
| 2. Latvia | 198 | 14 | -35 | 2. Germany | 191 | 11 | -16 |
| 3. Sweden | 140 | 10 | -20 | 3. Lithuania | 185 | 11 | -13 |
| 4. Lithuania | 132 | 9 | 14 | 4. Latvia | 171 | 10 | -26 |
| 5. Germany | 88 | 6 | -8 | 5. Sweden | 146 | 9 | -5 |
| 6. Netherlands | 76 | 5 | 43 | 6. Poland | 132 | 8 | -15 |
| 7. Norway | 58 | 4 | -24 | 7. Netherlands | 84 | 5 | -5 |
| 8. Poland | 54 | 4 | -12 | 8. China | 58 | 3 | -38 |
| 9. Denmark | 41 | 3 | -26 | 9. Italy | 46 | 3 | -10 |
| 10. USA | 37 | 3 | -71 | 10. Czechia | 36 | 2 | -14 |
| Commodity section (chapter) by Combined Nomenclature (CN) | Exports | Imports | Balance, million euros | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Million euros | Share, % | Change on previous year, % | Million euros | Share, % | Change on previous year, % | ||
| TOTAL | 1,458 | 100 | -24 | 1,665 | 100 | -22 | -207 |
| Agricultural products and food preparations (I–IV) | 148 | 10 | -18 | 204 | 12 | -3 | -56 |
| Mineral products (V) | 148 | 10 | -59 | 227 | 14 | -44 | -80 |
| Raw materials and products of chemical industry (VI) | 81 | 6 | -3 | 135 | 8 | -22 | -54 |
| Articles of plastics and rubber (VII) | 46 | 3 | -19 | 83 | 5 | -21 | -37 |
| Wood and articles of wood (IX) | 160 | 11 | -24 | 50 | 3 | -25 | 110 |
| Paper and articles thereof (X) | 31 | 2 | -21 | 28 | 2 | -18 | 3 |
| Textiles and textile articles (XI) | 39 | 3 | -7 | 68 | 4 | -20 | -28 |
| Base metals and articles of base metal (XV) | 128 | 9 | -3 | 145 | 9 | -16 | -17 |
| Machinery and mechanical appliances (84) | 122 | 8 | -24 | 151 | 9 | -25 | -28 |
| Electrical equipment (85) | 188 | 13 | -31 | 210 | 13 | -17 | -21 |
| Transport equipment (XVII) | 156 | 11 | 12 | 206 | 12 | -4 | -50 |
| Optical, measuring, precision instruments (XVIII) | 46 | 3 | -15 | 37 | 2 | -17 | 9 |
| Miscellaneous manufactured articles (XX) | 111 | 8 | -17 | 48 | 3 | -15 | 63 |
| Other | 52 | 3 | -14 | 73 | 4 | -24 | -22 |
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.
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:
Vahur Koorits
Communications Partner
Marketing and Dissemination Department
Statistics Estonia
Tel +372 625 9204
press [at] stat.ee