Industrial production was down by 3.1% in March

Riin Kadarik, leading analyst at Statistics Estonia, said that manufacturing output declined in March, similarly to February. “The decline was mainly due to the 4.1% decrease in the manufacture of food products. The output of the manufacture of food products has fallen for three months now – the year-on-year decrease was 6.9% in January and 5.3% in February. The main reason behind this is the continued decline in retail trade volume and demand, coupled with inflation,” explained Kadarik.

The volume of production increased in slightly more than half of manufacturing activities. Looking at the major industries, output increased by 5% in the manufacture of wood, by 3.5% in the manufacture of fabricated metal products and by 12.6% in the manufacture of computers, electronic and optical products. The main contributor to increased output in the manufacture of computers, electronic and optical products was the greater production of communication equipment. The manufacture of electrical equipment was up by 0.7%.

In March 2026, 68.6% of the total production of manufacturing was sold to the external market.

Compared with March 2025, the sales of manufacturing production at current prices remained at the same level, according to working-day adjusted data. Domestic sales were down by 1.1%, while export sales grew by 0.6%.

In March compared with February, the seasonally adjusted total industrial production fell by 2.5% and the production of manufacturing rose by 0.7%.

In the energy sector, output decreased by 19.5% at constant prices. Based on the volume of production in megawatt-hours, electricity production fell by 23.6% and heat production by 9.6% in March year on year. “Electricity production fell due to increased imports. The decreased production of heat was related to the weather in March being warmer than usual,” noted Kadarik.

Volume index of industrial production – an index that expresses the change in the volume of industrial production at constant prices compared with the base period. The producer price index is used for calculating the production values at constant prices.

Value index of industrial sales – an index that expresses the change in the value of sold industrial production at current prices compared with the base period.

Industry is the largest sector of the economy and an important driver of economic growth. The index of industrial production covers the economic indicators of three industrial activities: mining, energy production, and manufacturing.

Statistics Estonia performs the statistical activity “Production indices” for the Ministry of Economic Affairs and Communications with the aim to determine the economic situation in Estonia.

Data as at 6 May 2026 are published. The indicator values may change if there are any revisions made in the data sources after this date.

Information about various industrial activities can be found on the business dashboards. See also the industry section on our website. More detailed data have been published in the statistical database. 

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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