Trade up in June, imports from Russia and Belarus down

News
Posted on 9 August 2022, 8:00

According to Statistics Estonia, in June 2022, Estonia’s exports of goods increased by 26% and imports by 24% compared with June 2021. Compared with the second quarter of last year, exports grew by 21% and imports by 30%. In June and in the second quarter as a whole, trade was primarily boosted by the increased exports and imports of mineral fuels and electricity and wood and articles of wood.

Estonia’s exports of goods amounted to nearly 1.9 billion and imports to 2.1 billion euros at current prices. The trade deficit was 284 million euros – up by 28 million euros compared with June 2021.

Evelin Puura, leading analyst at Statistics Estonia, pointed out that imports have grown at a faster pace in both quarters of the first half-year, which has doubled the trade deficit compared with the same periods last year. “The trade deficit has, in turn, been widened by faster price increases for imported raw materials and goods than for exported goods,” Puura noted.

The main commodities exported in June were mineral fuels and electricity, electrical equipment, and wood and articles of wood. Compared with June 2021, the biggest increase occurred in the exports of mineral fuels and electricity, which grew by 163 million euros. The exports of wood and articles of wood was up by 62 million euros, and the exports of agricultural products and food preparations by 38 million euros.

Estonia’s biggest partner was Finland, followed by Latvia and Sweden. “The main commodities exported were metal structures and other steel products and electrical equipment to Finland, electricity and automobiles to Latvia, and wood and articles of wood, prefabricated wooden buildings and communication equipment to Sweden. The biggest increase occurred in exports to Latvia, Norway, and Finland. More electricity, wood and articles of wood, and bitumen were exported to Latvia, and there were larger dispatches of motor fuels and prefabricated wooden buildings to Norway and metal structures to Finland,” added Puura.

Re-exports from Estonia increased by 40%, exports of domestic goods by 21%. Goods of Estonian origin accounted for 68% of the total exports of goods. In the case of goods of Estonian origin, the biggest rise occurred in the exports of wood and articles of wood (incl. wood pellets), agricultural products and food preparations (incl. milk), processed mineral fuels, and prefabricated wooden buildings.

The main commodities imported to Estonia were mineral fuels and electricity, transport equipment, and electrical equipment. The imports of mineral fuels and electricity increased the most (up by 110 million euros), followed by imports of base metals and articles of base metal (up by 64 million euros), and wood and articles of wood (up by 40 million euros).

The top partner countries for Estonia’s imports of goods were Finland, Germany, and Sweden. The biggest rise was recorded in imports from Finland, Sweden, and the Netherlands. There were greater imports of electricity and motor fuels from Finland, transport equipment and mineral products from Sweden, and various measuring instruments, mineral products, and gravel from the Netherlands. Imports fell the most from Belarus and Russia.

Estonia's foreign trade by month, 2020–2022

Estonia’s foreign trade by month, 2021–2022
Month Exports, million euros Imports, million euros Balance, million euros
2021 2022 Change, % 2021 2022 Change, % 2021 2022
TOTAL 8,380 10,504 25 9,290 12,220 32 -910 -1,716
1st quarter 3,911 5,113 31 4,286 5,725 34 -374 -613
January 1,190 1,622 36 1,306 1,778 36 -116 -156
February 1,257 1,492 19 1,327 1,781 34 -70 -288
March 1,465 1,998 36 1,653 2,167 31 -188 -169
2nd quarter 4,469 5,391 21 5,004 6,494 30 -536 -1,103
April 1,536 1,605 4 1,639 2,138 30 -103 -533
May 1,469 1,935 32 1,646 2,220 35 -177 -285
June 1,464 1,852 26 1,720 2,136 24 -256 -284
Main foreign trade partners of Estonia, June 2022
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 1,852 100 26 TOTAL 2,136 100 24
EU-27 1,224 66 22 EU-27 1,649 77 31
Euro area 19 898 48 24 Euro area 19 1,215 57 30
Non-EU 628 34 37 Non-EU 487 23 6
1. Finland 250 14 18 1. Finland 334 16 40
2. Latvia 235 13 61 2. Germany 208 10 22
3. Sweden 172 9 16 3. Sweden 198 9 52
4. Lithuania 135 7 39 4. Russia 187 9 -13
5. USA 121 7 4 5. Lithuania 182 9 26
6. Germany 110 6 18 6. Latvia 167 8 25
7. Norway 87 5 88 7. Poland 142 7 17
8. Russia 78 4 16 8. Netherlands 119 6 87
9. United Kingdom 60 3 33 9. China 67 3 24
10. Poland 52 3 6 10. Italy 57 3 32
Exports and imports by commodity section, June 2022
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 1,852 100 26 2,136 100 24 -284
Agricultural products and food preparations (I–IV) 153 8 33 194 9 25 -41
Mineral products (V) 392 21 71 404 19 38 -13
Raw materials and products of chemical industry (VI) 79 4 3 155 7 10 -76
Articles of plastics and rubber (VII) 52 3 15 105 5 16 -52
Wood and articles of wood (IX) 212 12 42 124 6 48 89
Paper and articles thereof (X) 40 2 46 32 1 31 9
Textiles and textile articles (XI) 40 2 14 62 3 15 -22
Base metals and articles of base metal (XV) 142 8 11 219 10 41 -77
Machinery and mechanical appliances (84) 145 8 18 195 9 5 -50
Electrical equipment (85) 239 13 5 226 11 19 13
Transport equipment (XVII) 110 6 3 226 11 13 -116
Optical, measuring, precision instruments (XVIII) 48 3 36 41 2 26 8
Miscellaneous manufactured articles (XX) 137 7 23 49 2 19 88
Other 61 3 14 105 5 39 -44


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:

Vahur Koorits
Communications Partner
Marketing and Dissemination Department

Statistics Estonia
Tel +372
625 9204

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