Exports of services up by 8% in the third quarter

News
Posted on 10 December 2024, 8:00

According to Statistics Estonia and Eesti Pank, in the third quarter of 2024, Estonia’s exports of services grew by 8% and imports by 2%. Exports of services totalled €3.2 billion and imports of services €2.4 billion at current prices. The balance of foreign trade in services was in surplus by €751 million, which is €180 million more than a year earlier.

Jane Leppmets, a foreign trade analyst at Statistics Estonia, noted that growth in foreign trade in services was most affected by travel services and other business services. “In the third quarter, exports of services to EU countries increased by 8% and imports from EU countries by 4%. Extra-EU exports of services were also up by 8%, however, extra-EU imports were down by 4%. The latter was mainly affected by a decline in purchases of services from the United States,” Leppmets pointed out.

The most exported services in the third quarter were other business services (incl. other business support services, advertising and management services), worth €860 million. This was followed by exports of telecommunications, computer and information services (incl. computer programming and consultancy) for €750 million, and exports of transport services (incl. road freight transport) to non-residents for €688 million. Compared with the third quarter of last year, the biggest increase was seen in the exports of travel services (up by €61 million), other business services (up by €60 million), and telecommunications, computer and information services (up by €60 million). The biggest fall occurred in the exports of construction services – down by €34 million.

Estonia’s top export partner was Finland (16% of total exports), followed by Germany (9%), the United States (7%) and Sweden (7%). The main services supplied to Finland were travel services. Transport services were the most exported service to Germany and Sweden, and telecommunications, computer and information services were the biggest export item to the United States. The biggest rise was recorded in exports of services to Germany (up by €50 million, or 22%) and to the United Kingdom (up by €29 million, or 17%). Year on year, there were greater exports of transport services to Germany and telecommunications, computer and information services to the United Kingdom. The biggest fall (by €8 million, or 11%) was registered in exports of services to Ireland due to decreased sales of other business services.

The main services imported to Estonia in the third quarter were other business services (incl. other business support services, advertising and management services) for €688 million and transport services (incl. road and sea freight transport) for €638 million. Compared with the third quarter of 2023, the biggest rise occurred in the purchases of travel services (up by €33 million), other business services (up by €21 million) and transport services (up by €10 million) from non-residents. The imports of telecommunications, computer and information services declined the most year on year – by €14 million.

The main partner countries for imports of services in the third quarter were Germany (8% of Estonia's total imports), Finland (8%), Lithuania (7%) and Latvia (7%). Transport services were the main type of service purchased from these countries. The biggest rise was recorded in imports of services from Poland (up by €15 million, or 17%), Germany (up by €13 million, or 7%) and Bulgaria (up by €13 million, or 93%). Year on year, there were more purchases of telecommunications, computer and information services from Poland and greater imports of other business services from Germany and transport services from Bulgaria. The biggest decline occurred in imports of services from Lithuania (down by €18 million, or 10%) and the United States (down by €18 million, or 15%), with fewer purchases of telecommunications, computer and information services.

Estonia's foreign trade in services by quarter, 2022–2024

Estonia’s main partners in foreign trade in services, 3rd quarter 2024
Country of destination, group of countriesExports, million eurosShare, %Change on same month of previous year, %Country of consignment, group of countriesImports, million eurosShare, %Change on previous year, %
TOTAL

3,163

100

8

TOTAL

2,412

100

2

EU-27

2,122

67

8

EU-27

1,731

72

4

Euro area 20

1,687

53

8

Euro area 20

1,375

57

3

Non-EU

1,041

33

8

Non-EU

681

28

-4

1. Finland

521

16

2

1. Germany

190

8

7

2. Germany

279

9

22

2. Finland

183

8

5

3. USA

237

7

0

3. Lithuania

171

7

-10

4. Sweden

208

7

-2

4. Latvia

170

7

7

5. United Kingdom

198

6

17

5. United Kingdom

130

5

-8

6. Latvia

153

5

11

6. Ireland

123

5

-7

7. Lithuania

143

5

-3

7. Poland

112

5

16

8. Netherlands

105

3

5

8. Sweden

108

4

-7

9. France

82

3

27

9. USA

104

4

-15

10. Poland

74

2

7

10. Netherlands

94

4

1

Exports and imports of services by type of service, 3rd quarter 2024
Type of service (according to EBOPS 2010)Exports of servicesImports of servicesBalance, million euros
Million eurosShare,%Change on same month of previous year, %Million eurosShare, %Change on previous year, % 
TOTAL

3,163

100

8

2412

100

2

751

Manufacturing services on physical inputs owned by others (SA)

95

3

14

25

1

0

70

Maintenance and repair services n.i.e. (SB)

92

3

68

32

1

4

60

Transport (SC)

688

22

6

638

26

2

50

Travel (SD)

473

15

15

433

18

8

40

Construction (SE)

77

2

-30

20

1

-38

58

Insurance and pension services (SF)

4

0

2

15

1

17

-11

Financial services (excl. insurance and pension services) (SG)

39

1

-19

41

2

-3

-2

Charges for the use of intellectual property n.i.e. (SH)

16

1

-48

24

1

-13

-8

Telecommunications, computer and information services (SI)

750

24

9

454

19

-3

296

Other business services (SJ)

860

27

7

688

29

3

172

Personal, cultural and recreational services (SK)

53

2

35

32

1

28

21

Government goods and services (SL)

15

1

21

11

0

8

5

Statistics Estonia collects and analyses the data on foreign trade in services in cooperation with Eesti Pank, as commissioned by 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.

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.

When using Statistics Estonia’s data and graphs, please indicate the source.

For further information:
 

Heidi Kukk
Media Relations Manager
Marketing and Dissemination Department
Statistics Estonia
Tel +372 625 9181
press [at] stat.ee (press[at]stat[dot]ee)

Photo: Shutterstock

Estonia will desynchronise from the Russian electricity grid on 8 February and join the continental European network on 9 February. It is very unlikely that residents will notice the transition to the European frequency area. Nevertheless, there may be issues with supply security in Estonia during the transition, which could impact data submission and publication at Statistics Estonia.