Trade grew by over 40% in August year on year
According to Statistics Estonia, in August, exports of goods increased by 46% and imports by 40% year on year. Trade growth was significantly influenced by the increase in the exports and imports of mineral fuels and wood and articles of wood.
In August, Estonia’s exports of goods amounted to 1.6 billion euros and imports to 1.7 billion euros at current prices. The trade deficit was 92 million euros, which is 22 million euros lower than in August 2020.
Evelin Puura, leading analyst at Statistics Estonia, noted that trade was greatly influenced by the increased exports and imports of mineral products which grew, respectively, nearly four and three times. “In August, there was a significant rise in trade in mineral fuels and electrical energy. There was an increase in the processing of imported fuel oils and aviation fuels, but also in the imports of gasoline and diesel fuels and in electrical energy trade,” explained Puura.
According to Puura, mineral fuels, which are reprocessed in Estonia, held the biggest share among mineral products in terms of both quantity and value. “For example, various fuel oil preparations are imported and, by the addition of components, turned into fuels with different quality and purpose,” said Puura.
The main commodities exported in August were mineral fuels, electrical equipment, and wood and articles of wood. Compared to August 2020, the biggest increases occurred in the exports of mineral fuels (up by 262 million euros), electrical equipment (up by 75 million euros) and wood and articles of wood (up by 53 million euros).
The main partner country for Estonia’s exports of goods was Finland, followed by Latvia and the USA. The biggest increase occurred in exports to the Netherlands, the USA and Finland. There were larger dispatches of processed fuel oil to the Netherlands, more dispatches of telecommunications equipment to the USA, and re-exports of natural gas to Finland.
Re-exports from Estonia increased by 55% and exports of domestic goods by 43%. Goods of Estonian origin accounted for 69% of the total exports of goods. In the case of goods of Estonian origin, the biggest rise occurred in the exports of fuels, telecommunications equipment, coniferous sawn timber and continuously shaped coniferous strips and friezes.
The main commodities imported to Estonia were mineral fuels, electrical equipment, and base metals and articles of base metal. The imports of mineral fuels increased the most (up by 189 million euros), followed by imports of base metals and articles of base metal (up by 63 million euros) and wood and articles of wood (up by 55 million euros).
In August, the top partner countries for Estonia’s imports of goods were Finland, Russia and Germany. The biggest rise was recorded in imports from Russia, Finland and Belarus. There were increased imports of fuel oils, motor fuel and coniferous sawn timber from Russia, electrical energy from Finland, and fuel oils from Belarus.
| Month | Exports, million euros | Imports, million euros | Balance, million euros | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2020 | 2021 | Change, % | 2020 | 2021 | Change, % | 2020 | 2021 | |
| TOTAL | 8,904 | 11,513 | 29 | 9,631 | 12,632 | 31 | -727 | -1,119 |
| January | 1,146 | 1,189 | 4 | 1,165 | 1,305 | 12 | -19 | -117 |
| February | 1,088 | 1,258 | 16 | 1,213 | 1,327 | 9 | -124 | -69 |
| March | 1,234 | 1,466 | 19 | 1,388 | 1,651 | 19 | -154 | -185 |
| April | 1,016 | 1,560 | 53 | 1,086 | 1,636 | 51 | -69 | -77 |
| May | 1,001 | 1,472 | 47 | 1,095 | 1,645 | 50 | -94 | -172 |
| June | 1,170 | 1,476 | 26 | 1,181 | 1,715 | 45 | -11 | -240 |
| July | 1,163 | 1,503 | 29 | 1,304 | 1,672 | 28 | -141 | -169 |
| August | 1,086 | 1,589 | 46 | 1,200 | 1,681 | 40 | -114 | -92 |
| 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 | 1,589 | 100 | 46 | TOTAL | 1,681 | 100 | 40 |
| EU-27 | 1,061 | 67 | 46 | EU-27 | 1,178 | 70 | 29 |
| Euro area 19 | 802 | 50 | 56 | Euro area 19 | 901 | 54 | 33 |
| Non-EU | 528 | 33 | 46 | Non-EU | 504 | 30 | 76 |
| 1. Finland | 240 | 15 | 37 | 1. Finland | 231 | 14 | 49 |
| 2. Latvia | 167 | 11 | 53 | 2. Russia | 225 | 13 | 187 |
| 3. USA | 158 | 10 | 94 | 3. Germany | 164 | 10 | 25 |
| 4. Sweden | 139 | 9 | 15 | 4. Lithuania | 151 | 9 | 30 |
| 5. Netherlands | 135 | 9 | 327 | 5. Latvia | 136 | 8 | 15 |
| 6. Germany | 88 | 6 | 53 | 6. Sweden | 118 | 7 | 13 |
| 7. Lithuania | 85 | 5 | 19 | 7. Poland | 99 | 6 | 24 |
| 8. United Kingdom | 80 | 5 | 112 | 8. Netherlands | 75 | 4 | 46 |
| 9. Russia | 59 | 4 | -6 | 9. China | 65 | 4 | 2 |
| 10. Norway | 46 | 3 | 17 | 10. Belarus | 56 | 3 | 409 |
| 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 | 1,589 | 100 | 46 | 1,681 | 100 | 40 | -92 |
| Agricultural products and food preparations (I–IV) | 130 | 8 | 25 | 152 | 9 | 9 | -23 |
| Mineral products (V) | 358 | 23 | 273 | 306 | 18 | 162 | 53 |
| Raw materials and products of chemical industry (VI) | 69 | 4 | 18 | 143 | 9 | 29 | -74 |
| Articles of plastics and rubber (VII) | 47 | 3 | 27 | 99 | 6 | 45 | -52 |
| Wood and articles of wood (IX) | 165 | 10 | 48 | 99 | 6 | 124 | 66 |
| Paper and articles thereof (X) | 32 | 2 | 20 | 25 | 1 | 21 | 7 |
| Textiles and textile articles (XI) | 31 | 2 | 5 | 61 | 4 | 13 | -30 |
| Base metals and articles of base metal (XV) | 107 | 7 | 31 | 171 | 10 | 58 | -64 |
| Machinery and mechanical appliances (84) | 110 | 7 | 15 | 152 | 9 | 19 | -41 |
| Electrical equipment (85) | 248 | 16 | 43 | 179 | 11 | 10 | 69 |
| Transport equipment (XVII) | 89 | 6 | 20 | 130 | 8 | 28 | -41 |
| Optical, measuring, precision instruments (XVIII) | 39 | 2 | -13 | 33 | 2 | -6 | 6 |
| Miscellaneous manufactured articles (XX) | 111 | 7 | 13 | 42 | 2 | 34 | 69 |
| Other | 54 | 3 | -2 | 91 | 5 | 14 | -37 |
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 data of Estonia’s foreign trade 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:
Kadri Kütt
Media Relations Manager
Marketing and Dissemination Department
Statistics Estonia
Tel +372 625 9181