Foreign trade in goods showed signs of picking up in April

Jane Leppmets, analyst at Statistics Estonia, pointed out that foreign trade in goods grew in April after a long period of time, with exports of goods last increasing in February 2023. “In April this year, trade growth was driven by increases in exports and imports of mineral products and in imports of agricultural products and food preparations. Foreign trade was boosted by reexports, which increased by 11% in April. Exports of goods of Estonian origin were 1% lower,” Leppmets added.

The main commodities exported in April were electrical equipment (14% of Estonia's total exports), agricultural products and food preparations (12%), and wood and articles of wood (11%). Compared with April 2023, the biggest increases were seen in the exports of mineral products (up by €27 million) and electrical equipment and mechanical appliances (by €19 million each). The largest decrease, by €24 million, was recorded in the exports of miscellaneous manufactured articles (incl. prefabricated wooden buildings).

Exports of goods of Estonian origin decreased by 1% in April compared with the same month in 2023. Their share in total exports fell 3 percentage points year on year, accounting for 64% of total exports in April 2024.

Estonia’s top export partners in April were Finland (17% of total exports), Sweden and Latvia (9% each). The main commodities exported were electrical equipment to Finland and Sweden and transport equipment to Latvia. Compared with April 2023, the greatest increase occurred in exports to the USA (up by €39 million), where more mineral products (incl. fuel components) were exported. A decline by €38 million was seen in exports to Latvia, where less mineral products (incl. natural gas) were dispatched.

The main commodities imported in April were agricultural products and food preparations (13% of Estonia's total imports), transport equipment (12%), and electrical equipment (12%). Compared with April 2023, the biggest increase occurred in the imports of agricultural products and food preparations (up by €35 million), mineral products (by €25 million), and raw materials and products of chemical industry (by €22 million). The biggest fall, by €21 million, was seen in the imports of mechanical appliances.

In April, the top partner countries for Estonia’s imports of goods were Germany (13% of total imports), Finland and Latvia (12% each). The main commodities imported were transport equipment from Germany, and mineral products from Finland and Latvia. In comparison with April last year, the biggest rise occurred in imports of goods from Lithuania (up by €38 million) and Germany (by €37 million). The biggest fall, by €32 million, was recorded in imports from Finland.

Since January 2024, the import data estimates have been partially replaced retroactively with detailed data from other countries. The data were first published in the database in the updated form on 10 June 2024.

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. Statistics Estonia’s foreign trade application provides visualised foreign trade data for Estonia.

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)

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