Highest ever value of imports recorded in June
According to Statistics Estonia, in June, exports of goods increased by 26% and imports by 45% year on year. In the second quarter as a whole, exports grew by 41% and imports by 49% year on year.
In June, Estonia’s exports of goods amounted to 1.5 billion euros and imports to 1.7 billion euros at current prices, which means that the value of imports to Estonia was the highest ever. The trade deficit was 235 million euros, which is 224 million euros higher than in June 2020. The last time that the trade deficit was this big was in December 2019.
Evelin Puura, leading analyst at Statistics Estonia, said that the growth in trade was mainly driven by trade with EU countries. “In June, exports grew by more than 200 million euros and imports by more than 300 million euros. In the second quarter, Finland, the USA and Sweden were the most important destination countries for Estonia’s exports, while the top partner countries for imports of goods were Finland, Russia and Germany,” commented Puura.
The main commodities exported in June were electrical equipment, mineral fuels, and wood and articles of wood. Compared to June 2020, the biggest increases occurred in the exports of mineral fuels (up by 84 million euros), electrical equipment (up by 47 million euros) and transport equipment (up by 32 million euros).
The main partner country for Estonia’s exports of goods was Finland, followed by Sweden and Latvia. The biggest increase occurred in exports to the USA, with larger dispatches of telecommunication equipment. There was also a rise in exports to the Netherlands due to greater exports of processed fuel oil, and to Latvia due to increased exports of electrical energy.
Re-exports from Estonia increased by 28% and exports of domestic goods by 25%. Goods of Estonian origin accounted for 70% of the total exports of goods. In the case of goods of Estonian origin, the biggest rise occurred in the exports of processed fuels, coniferous sawn timber, wooden doors and telecommunication equipment.
The main commodities imported to Estonia were mineral fuels, transport equipment, electrical equipment, and machinery and mechanical appliances. The imports of mineral fuels increased the most (up by 156 million euros), followed by imports of transport equipment (up by 90 million euros) and machinery and mechanical appliances (up by 51 million euros).
In June, goods were imported the most from Finland, Russia and Germany, with the biggest rise also recorded in imports from these countries. There were increased imports of mineral fuels and coniferous sawn timber from Russia, electrical energy from Finland, and passenger cars from Germany.
| Month | Exports, million euros | Imports, million euros | Balance, million euros | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2020 | 2021 | Change, % | 2020 | 2021 | Change, % | 2020 | 2021 | |
| TOTAL | 6,662 | 8,426 | 26 | 7,122 | 9,284 | 30 | -460 | -858 |
| 1st quarter | 3,472 | 3,918 | 13 | 3,763 | 4,287 | 14 | -291 | -369 |
| January | 1,148 | 1,189 | 4 | 1,165 | 1,306 | 12 | -17 | -117 |
| February | 1,090 | 1,259 | 16 | 1,212 | 1,328 | 10 | -122 | -70 |
| March | 1,235 | 1,471 | 19 | 1,387 | 1,653 | 19 | -152 | -183 |
| 2nd quarter | 3,189 | 4,508 | 41 | 3,359 | 4,997 | 49 | -170 | -489 |
| April | 1,017 | 1,561 | 53 | 1,085 | 1,642 | 51 | -68 | -81 |
| May | 1,002 | 1,474 | 47 | 1,094 | 1,647 | 51 | -92 | -174 |
| June | 1,170 | 1,473 | 26 | 1,180 | 1,708 | 45 | -10 | -235 |
| 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 | 1,473 | 100 | 26 | TOTAL | 1,708 | 100 | 45 |
| EU-27 | 1,006 | 68 | 27 | EU-27 | 1,253 | 73 | 38 |
| Euro area 19 | 725 | 49 | 35 | Euro area 19 | 932 | 55 | 40 |
| Non-EU | 467 | 32 | 23 | Non-EU | 455 | 27 | 67 |
| 1. Finland | 213 | 14 | 15 | 1. Finland | 236 | 14 | 48 |
| 2. Sweden | 149 | 10 | -5 | 2. Russia | 211 | 12 | 106 |
| 3. Latvia | 146 | 10 | 32 | 3. Germany | 173 | 10 | 46 |
| 4. USA | 116 | 8 | 140 | 4. Lithuania | 145 | 9 | 47 |
| 5. Lithuania | 98 | 7 | 52 | 5. Latvia | 134 | 8 | 16 |
| 6. Germany | 93 | 6 | 33 | 6. Sweden | 132 | 8 | 29 |
| 7. Netherlands | 84 | 6 | 147 | 7. Poland | 123 | 7 | 47 |
| 8. Russia | 69 | 5 | -1 | 8. Netherlands | 63 | 4 | 34 |
| 9. Denmark | 50 | 3 | 51 | 9. China | 54 | 3 | -7 |
| 10. Poland | 49 | 3 | 27 | 10. Belgium | 52 | 3 | 133 |
| 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 | 1,473 | 100 | 26 | 1,708 | 100 | 45 | -235 |
| Agricultural products and food preparations (I–IV) | 116 | 8 | 9 | 154 | 9 | 8 | -38 |
| Mineral products (V) | 228 | 15 | 58 | 292 | 17 | 114 | -64 |
| Raw materials and products of chemical industry (VI) | 72 | 5 | 21 | 143 | 8 | 43 | -71 |
| Articles of plastics and rubber (VII) | 46 | 3 | 21 | 91 | 5 | 35 | -44 |
| Wood and articles of wood (IX) | 152 | 10 | 21 | 83 | 5 | 78 | 69 |
| Paper and articles thereof (X) | 29 | 2 | 15 | 25 | 2 | 22 | 4 |
| Textiles and textile articles (XI) | 35 | 2 | 24 | 54 | 3 | 12 | -19 |
| Base metals and articles of base metal (XV) | 129 | 9 | 28 | 156 | 9 | 45 | -26 |
| Machinery and mechanical appliances (84) | 128 | 9 | 24 | 178 | 11 | 40 | -50 |
| Electrical equipment (85) | 230 | 16 | 25 | 186 | 11 | 22 | 45 |
| Transport equipment (XVII) | 108 | 7 | 41 | 198 | 12 | 83 | -89 |
| Optical, measuring, precision instruments (XVIII) | 35 | 2 | -18 | 32 | 2 | -11 | 3 |
| Miscellaneous manufactured articles (XX) | 110 | 8 | 22 | 41 | 2 | 29 | 68 |
| Other | 55 | 4 | 20 | 75 | 4 | 31 | -20 |
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