The trade deficit narrowed in April
According to Statistics Estonia, in April 2023, Estonia’s exports of goods decreased by 4% and imports by 18% at current prices compared with April 2022. Foreign trade was most affected by the reduced trade in mineral fuels and wood and articles of wood.
Jane Leppmets, analyst at Statistics Estonia, said that, in April, Estonia’s exports of goods amounted to 1.5 billion and imports to 1.8 billion euros at current prices. “The trade deficit was 227 million euros in April. It decreased by about 305 million euros year on year, down from 532 million euros in April last year. But the continuing trend is that Estonia’s imports exceed exports,” added Leppmets.
The main commodities exported in April were electrical equipment, agricultural products and food preparations, and wood and articles of wood. The biggest fall was recorded in the exports of mineral products (down by 53 million euros). The exports of wood and articles of wood decreased by 38 million euros and the exports of miscellaneous manufactured articles by 14 million euros. The biggest increase occurred in the exports of agricultural products and food preparations (up by 27 million euros), transport equipment (up by 25 million euros), and mechanical appliances (up by 11 million euros). The share of goods of Estonian origin in exports fell by two percentage points compared with April 2022 and was 68% of total exports in April this year.
Estonia’s top export partner in April was Finland (15% of total exports), followed by Latvia (13%) and Sweden (9%). The main commodities exported were electrical equipment (incl. static converters) to Finland, mineral products (incl. natural gas) to Latvia, and electrical equipment (incl. communication equipment) to Sweden. The biggest decline was registered in exports to the United States, Guatemala and Sweden. There were decreased exports of electrical equipment (incl. communication equipment) to the USA, lower exports of mineral products (incl. light oils) to Guatemala, and reduced exports of base metals and articles of base metal (incl. iron and steel structures) to Sweden. The greatest rise occurred in exports to Turkey, Singapore and the Netherlands. There were greater exports of base metals and articles of base metal (incl. iron and steel waste) to Turkey, and increased dispatches of mineral products (incl. various mineral oils) to Singapore and the Netherlands.
The main commodities imported to Estonia in April were electrical equipment, transport equipment, and agricultural products and food preparations. The biggest fall was recorded in the imports of mineral products (down by 232 million euros). The imports of base metals and articles of base metal decreased by 58 million euros, and the imports of wood and articles of wood by 50 million euros. The biggest increases were recorded in the imports of agricultural products and food preparations, and transport equipment (both up by 23 million euros), followed by the imports of electrical equipment (up by 19 million euros).
In April, the top partner countries for Estonia’s imports of goods were Finland (15% of Estonia’s total imports), Germany (11%), Latvia (10%) and Lithuania (10%). The main commodities imported were mineral products (incl. natural gas) from Finland and Latvia, transport equipment (incl. motor cars) from Germany, and mineral products (incl. mineral oils) from Lithuania. The biggest fall occurred in imports from Russia, Lithuania and Finland due to lower imports of mineral products. There were decreased imports of mineral oils from Russia and Lithuania, and fewer imports of electricity and light oils from Finland. There was a rise in imports from Denmark, the USA and Czechia. Year on year, there were bigger imports of mechanical appliances and electrical equipment (incl. engine parts and wind turbines) from Denmark, greater imports of electrical equipment (incl. smart phones) from the USA, and increased imports of transport equipment (incl. motor cars) from Czechia.
| Month | Exports, million euros | Imports, million euros | Balance, million euros | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2022 | 2023 | Change, % | 2022 | 2023 | Change, % | 2022 | 2023 | |
| TOTAL | 6,729 | 6,258 | -7 | 7,862 | 7,047 | -10 | -1,132 | -789 |
| January | 1,636 | 1,496 | -9 | 1,781 | 1,752 | -2 | -145 | -256 |
| February | 1,509 | 1,523 | 1 | 1,778 | 1,637 | -8 | -269 | -114 |
| March | 1,986 | 1,712 | -14 | 2,172 | 1,904 | -12 | -186 | -193 |
| April | 1,599 | 1,527 | -4 | 2,131 | 1,754 | -18 | -532 | -227 |
| 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 | 1,527 | 100 | -4 | TOTAL | 1,754 | 100 | -18 |
| EU-27 | 1,101 | 72 | -3 | EU-27 | 1,494 | 85 | -7 |
| Euro area 20 | 840 | 55 | 0 | Euro area 20 | 1,119 | 64 | -9 |
| Non-EU | 426 | 28 | -8 | Non-EU | 260 | 15 | -50 |
| 1. Finland | 233 | 15 | -7 | 1. Finland | 272 | 15 | -16 |
| 2. Latvia | 192 | 13 | 6 | 2. Germany | 198 | 11 | -1 |
| 3. Sweden | 143 | 9 | -14 | 3. Lithuania | 178 | 10 | -26 |
| 4. Lithuania | 124 | 8 | 10 | 4. Latvia | 178 | 10 | -1 |
| 5. Germany | 104 | 7 | 0 | 5. Poland | 137 | 8 | -4 |
| 6. Netherlands | 72 | 5 | 39 | 6. Sweden | 132 | 8 | -9 |
| 7. Norway | 62 | 4 | -4 | 7. Netherlands | 89 | 5 | 2 |
| 8. Poland | 48 | 3 | -10 | 8. Italy | 56 | 3 | 2 |
| 9. Russia | 45 | 3 | -11 | 9. China | 56 | 3 | -27 |
| 10. Turkey | 43 | 3 | 817 | 10. Denmark | 49 | 3 | 59 |
| 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 | 1,527 | 100 | -4 | 1,754 | 100 | -18 | -227 |
| Agricultural products and food preparations (I–IV) | 175 | 12 | 18 | 206 | 12 | 13 | -31 |
| Mineral products (V) | 159 | 10 | -25 | 201 | 11 | -54 | -42 |
| Raw materials and products of chemical industry (VI) | 83 | 6 | -10 | 152 | 9 | -16 | -70 |
| Articles of plastics and rubber (VII) | 47 | 3 | -8 | 89 | 5 | -16 | -42 |
| Wood and articles of wood (IX) | 169 | 11 | -18 | 64 | 4 | -44 | 105 |
| Paper and articles thereof (X) | 33 | 2 | -17 | 27 | 2 | -13 | 6 |
| Textiles and textile articles (XI) | 36 | 2 | -2 | 60 | 3 | -5 | -25 |
| Base metals and articles of base metal (XV) | 136 | 9 | -3 | 169 | 10 | -26 | -32 |
| Machinery and mechanical appliances (84) | 127 | 8 | 9 | 192 | 11 | -4 | -65 |
| Electrical equipment (85) | 205 | 13 | 2 | 223 | 13 | 9 | -18 |
| Transport equipment (XVII) | 139 | 9 | 22 | 216 | 12 | 12 | -76 |
| Optical, measuring, precision instruments (XVIII) | 45 | 3 | 15 | 44 | 2 | 18 | 1 |
| Miscellaneous manufactured articles (XX) | 122 | 8 | -10 | 41 | 2 | -14 | 80 |
| Other | 53 | 4 | -21 | 71 | 4 | -37 | -18 |
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. Visualised foreign trade data for Estonia can be viewed in Statistics Estonia’s application.
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.
For further information:
Helen Maria Raadik
Media Relations Manager
Marketing and Dissemination Department
Statistics Estonia
Tel +372 625 9181
press [at] stat.ee