Estonia’s foreign trade is breaking records, trade most active with neighbour countries

News
Posted on 10 January 2022, 8:00

According to Statistics Estonia, in November 2021, Estonia’s rapid trade growth continued. Exports of goods increased by 30% and imports by 36% year on year. Growth was highest in trade with the European Union Member States and primarily with the neighbouring countries.

In November, Estonia’s exports of goods amounted to 1.7 billion euros and imports to 1.9 billion euros at current prices. The trade deficit was 149 million euros. In November 2020, it was 58 million euros. The trade deficit increase was driven by trade in raw materials and products of chemical industry, and transport equipment.

Evelin Puura, leading analyst at Statistics Estonia, said that trade is most active and also grows the most with Estonia’s neighbours: Finland, Latvia, Lithuania and Sweden. The share of these countries accounts for 41% of Estonia’s total trade. “The exports and imports of goods were at a record high level in November. In addition to growing volumes, higher prices continued to impact trade growth,” explained Puura.

The main commodities exported were mineral fuels, electrical equipment, wood and articles of wood. Compared to November 2020, the biggest increases occurred in the exports of mineral fuels and electricity (up by 129 million euros), wood and articles of wood (up by 80 million euros), and base metals and articles of base metal (up by 74 million euros).

The main partner country for Estonia’s exports of goods was Finland, followed by Latvia and Sweden. The biggest increase occurred in exports to Finland, Latvia and Germany. More electricity and scrap metal was exported to Latvia, more natural gas and parts of electrical engines to Finland, and there were larger dispatches of prefabricated wooden buildings and stainless steel waste to Germany.

Re-exports from Estonia increased by 35% and exports of domestic goods by 28%. Goods of Estonian origin accounted for 71% of the total exports of goods. In the case of goods of Estonian origin, the biggest rise occurred in the exports of ferrous and steel waste, wood pellets, processed fuels and prefabricated wooden buildings.

The main commodities imported to Estonia were mineral fuels, electrical equipment, and machinery and mechanical appliances. The imports of mineral fuels and electricity increased the most (up by 130 million euros), followed by imports of electrical equipment, and base metals and articles of base metal (up by 58 million euros), and machinery and mechanical appliances (up by 48 million euros).

The top partner countries for Estonia’s imports of goods were Finland, Germany and Lithuania. Year on year, the biggest rise was recorded in imports from Finland, Russia and Lithuania. Imports increased for electricity and sawn pine timber from Finland, various fuel oils from Russia, and motor fuels and pharmaceuticals from Lithuania.

Estonia's foreign trade by month, 2019–2021
Estonia’s foreign trade by month, 2020–2021
Month Exports, million euros Imports, million euros Balance, million euros
2020 2021 Change, % 2020 2021 Change, % 2020 2021
TOTAL 12,944 16,553 28 13,684 18,108 32 -739 -1,555
January 1,146 1,189 4 1,165 1,306 12 -19 -117
February 1,088 1,257 15 1,213 1,327 9 -124 -71
March 1,234 1,464 19 1,388 1,652 19 -155 -187
April 1,016 1,547 52 1,085 1,637 51 -69 -89
May 1,001 1,468 47 1,095 1,644 50 -94 -177
June 1,170 1,464 25 1,181 1,721 46 -11 -257
July 1,163 1,504 29 1,304 1,673 28 -142 -169
August 1,086 1,571 45 1,200 1,684 40 -114 -113
September 1,310 1,700 30 1,291 1,765 37 19 -65
October 1,402 1,659 18 1,375 1,821 32 27 -162
November 1,329 1,730 30 1,386 1,879 36 -58 -149
Main foreign trade partners of Estonia, November 2021
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 1,730 100 30 TOTAL 1,879 100 36
EU-27 1,163 67 32 EU-27 1,392 74 27
Euro area 19 919 53 37 Euro area 19 1,113 59 33
Non-EU 567 33 28 Non-EU 487 26 55
1. Finland 276 16 45 1. Finland 285 15 44
2. Latvia 182 11 47 2. Germany 197 10 23
3. Sweden 149 9 10 3. Lithuania 185 10 47
4. USA 144 8 0 4. Latvia 173 9 29
5. Germany 108 6 46 5. Russia 170 9 87
6. Netherlands 97 6 33 6. Sweden 123 7 23
7. Lithuania 95 5 25 7. Poland 113 6 18
8. Russia 78 5 -4 8. Netherlands 77 4 40
9. Norway 55 3 33 9. China 76 4 38
10. Poland 53 3 21 10. Belarus 54 3 50
Exports and imports by commodity section, November 2021
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 1,730 100 30 1,879 100 36 -149
Agricultural products and food preparations (I–IV) 154 9 21 165 9 20 -11
Mineral products (V) 278 16 86 300 16 77 -22
Raw materials and products of chemical industry (VI) 78 5 15 171 9 33 -93
Articles of plastics and rubber (VII) 52 3 26 105 6 40 -53
Wood and articles of wood (IX) 216 12 59 93 5 62 123
Paper and articles thereof (X) 36 2 35 32 2 32 4
Textiles and textile articles (XI) 36 2 9 68 4 26 -32
Base metals and articles of base metal (XV) 162 9 84 172 9 51 -10
Machinery and mechanical appliances (84) 137 8 16 192 10 31 -55
Electrical equipment (85) 244 14 1 249 13 30 -5
Transport equipment (XVII) 95 6 10 156 8 7 -61
Optical, measuring, precision instruments (XVIII) 45 3 -3 38 2 8 7
Miscellaneous manufactured articles (XX) 138 8 28 59 3 39 79
Other 60 3 2 80 4 15 -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

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