Foreign trade grew in October, exports of goods of Estonian origin up by 17%

Jane Leppmets, foreign trade analyst at Statistics Estonia, said that compared with October 2023, the growth in foreign trade in October 2024 was the highest this year. “Re-exports of goods increased by 5% in October, while exports of goods of Estonian origin grew by as much as 17%. The share of goods of Estonian origin in total exports was also up from October last year, accounting for 66% in October 2024. Wood and articles of wood as well as electrical equipment of Estonian origin were the most exported items. The exports of these goods also increased the most,” Leppmets pointed out.

The main commodities exported in October were electrical equipment (16% of Estonia's total exports), agricultural products and food preparations (14%), and wood and articles of wood (11%). Compared with October 2023, the biggest increases were recorded in the exports of agricultural products and food preparations (up by €52 million), electrical equipment (up by €45 million), and wood and articles of wood (up by €44 million). The biggest fall was recorded in the exports of base metals and articles of base metal – down by €8 million.

Estonia’s top export partners in October were Finland (15% of Estonia's total exports), Latvia (12%), Sweden (8%), and Lithuania (8%). The main commodities exported were electrical equipment to Finland, mineral products to Latvia, wood and articles of wood to Sweden, and transport equipment to Lithuania. Exports of goods to the United States increased the most (by €45 million, or slightly more than doubled), with more electrical equipment exported than in the previous year.

The main commodities imported in October were transport equipment (14% of Estonia's total imports), electrical equipment (13%), and agricultural products and food preparations (12%). The biggest year-on-year increases were seen in the imports of transport equipment (up by €43 million), agricultural products and food preparations (up by €32 million), and electrical equipment (up by €30 million). The biggest fall, by €9 million, was recorded in the imports of mechanical appliances.

Estonia’s top import partner in October was Finland (14% of total exports), followed by Germany (11%) and Latvia (10%). The main commodities imported were mineral products from Finland, transport equipment from Germany, and agricultural products and food preparations from Latvia. Year on year, the biggest increase occurred in imports of goods from Poland (up by €34 million or 26%), with more transport equipment imported.

Starting with January 2024, the import data estimates have been partially replaced retroactively with detailed data from other countries. The data were first published in the database in the updated form on 10 June 2024. Read more about the changes here (in Estonian).

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:

Heidi Kukk
Media Relations Manager
Marketing and Dissemination Department
Statistics Estonia
Tel +372 625 9181
press [at] stat.ee (press[at]stat[dot]ee)

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