Foreign trade in goods was up in December but down in 2024 as a whole
According to Statistics Estonia, in 2024, exports of goods decreased by 4% and imports by 2% compared with 2023. Exports of goods amounted to 17.4 billion and imports to 20.7 billion euros at current prices. The trade deficit was 3.3 billion euros, which is 275 million euros higher than in 2023. In December 2024, exports of goods increased by 2% and imports by 9% compared with December 2023.
Jane Leppmets, foreign trade analyst at Statistics Estonia, said that there was a marked decline in trade in goods in the first quarter of 2024, as exports were down by 16% and imports by 11%. “In the third quarter, imports were unchanged and there was a slight uptrend in exports. The positive trend was even more noticeable in the fourth quarter, with exports increasing by 6% and imports by 7%,” explained Leppmets.
Last year, re-exports fell by 9% and exports of goods of Estonian origin by 1%. Under goods of Estonian origin, the biggest fall was registered in the exports of prefabricated wooden buildings and scrap metal. This was balanced by the increased exports of agricultural products and food preparations, and optical instruments. The share of goods of Estonian origin in total exports grew by two percentage points year on year, accounting for 65% in 2024.
The main commodities exported in 2024 were electrical equipment (15% of Estonia’s total exports), agricultural products and food preparations (12%) and wood and articles of wood (11%). The biggest fall occurred in the exports of mineral products (down by 433 million euros) and mechanical appliances (down by 164 million euros). The greatest increase occurred in the exports of agricultural products and food preparations which were up by 117 million euros.
Estonia’s top export partners in 2024 were Finland (16% of total exports), Latvia (11%) and Sweden (9%). The main commodities exported were electrical equipment to Finland and Sweden and mineral products to Latvia. The biggest decrease occurred in exports to Finland (down by 326 million euros), where Estonia exported fewer mineral products (incl. natural gas).
The main commodities imported last year were transport equipment (14% of Estonia’s total imports), electrical equipment (13%), and agricultural products and food preparations (13%). The biggest fall occurred in the imports of mineral products (down by 443 million euros) and mechanical appliances (down by 326 million euros). The largest increase occurred in the imports of agricultural products and food preparations which were up by 224 million euros.
Estonia’s main import partners in 2024 were Finland (13% of Estonia’s total imports), Germany (12%), Latvia (11%), and Lithuania (11%). The main commodities imported were mineral products from Finland, Latvia and Lithuania, and transport equipment from Germany. Compared with 2023, the biggest fall occurred in imports of goods from Finland (down by 537 million euros), as there were fewer arrivals of mineral products (incl. electricity).
In December 2024, exports of goods increased by 2% and imports by 9% compared with December 2023. Exports of goods amounted to 1.3 billion and imports to 1.7 billion euros at current prices. The trade deficit in December was 381 million euros, which is 110 million euros more than a year earlier. The main commodities exported in December were electrical equipment, agricultural products and food preparations, and wood and articles of wood. The main commodities imported were transport equipment, electrical equipment, and agricultural products and food preparations. Finland, Latvia and Lithuania were the top export partners in December. The largest imports were registered from Latvia, Finland and Germany.
Month | Exports, million euros | Imports, million euros | Balance, million euros | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
2023 | 2024 | Change, % | 2023 | 2024 | Change, % | 2023 | 2024 | |
TOTAL | 18,161 | 17,406 | -4 | 21,136 | 20,656 | -2 | -2,975 | -3,251 |
1st quarter | 4,881 | 4,113 | -16 | 5,429 | 4,843 | -11 | -547 | -729 |
January | 1,556 | 1,337 | -14 | 1,737 | 1,581 | -9 | -180 | -244 |
February | 1,585 | 1,322 | -17 | 1,720 | 1,571 | -9 | -136 | -250 |
March | 1,740 | 1,455 | -16 | 1,972 | 1,690 | -14 | -231 | -236 |
2nd quarter | 4,739 | 4,427 | -7 | 5,529 | 5,276 | -5 | -790 | -849 |
April | 1,489 | 1,522 | 2 | 1,730 | 1,861 | 8 | -240 | -339 |
May | 1,650 | 1,544 | -6 | 1,959 | 1,747 | -11 | -309 | -202 |
June | 1,600 | 1,361 | -15 | 1,841 | 1,669 | -9 | -241 | -308 |
3rd quarter | 4,237 | 4,303 | 2 | 5,083 | 5,091 | 0 | -846 | -788 |
July | 1,265 | 1,315 | 4 | 1,630 | 1,675 | 3 | -365 | -360 |
August | 1,486 | 1,468 | -1 | 1,777 | 1,660 | -7 | -291 | -192 |
September | 1,486 | 1,520 | 2 | 1,676 | 1,756 | 5 | -190 | -236 |
4th quarter | 4,303 | 4,562 | 6 | 5,095 | 5,446 | 7 | -792 | -884 |
October | 1,475 | 1,653 | 12 | 1,777 | 1,955 | 10 | -303 | -302 |
November | 1,522 | 1,572 | 3 | 1,740 | 1,773 | 2 | -219 | -201 |
December | 1,307 | 1,337 | 2 | 1,578 | 1,718 | 9 | -271 | -381 |
| 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 | 17,406 | 100 | -4 | TOTAL | 20,656 | 100 | -2 |
| EU-27 | 12,658 | 73 | -6 | EU-27 | 17,497 | 85 | -3 |
| Euro area 20 | 9,434 | 54 | -7 | Euro area 20 | 13,107 | 63 | -4 |
| Non-EU | 4,748 | 27 | 0 | Non-EU | 3,159 | 15 | 5 |
| 1. Finland | 2,743 | 16 | -11 | 1. Finland | 2,720 | 13 | -16 |
| 2. Latvia | 1,937 | 11 | -10 | 2. Germany | 2,376 | 12 | -4 |
| 3. Sweden | 1,553 | 9 | -9 | 3. Latvia | 2,270 | 11 | -2 |
| 4. Lithuania | 1,404 | 8 | -5 | 4. Lithuania | 2,225 | 11 | 2 |
| 5. Germany | 1,269 | 7 | 6 | 5. Poland | 1,681 | 8 | 4 |
| 6. USA | 714 | 4 | 43 | 6. Sweden | 1,620 | 8 | 0 |
| 7. Netherlands | 680 | 4 | -2 | 7. Netherlands | 1,140 | 6 | 0 |
| 8. Poland | 652 | 4 | 6 | 8. China | 730 | 4 | -2 |
| 9. Norway | 585 | 3 | -7 | 9. Italy | 562 | 3 | -9 |
| 10. Denmark | 493 | 3 | -7 | 10. Czechia | 483 | 2 | -1 |
| Commodity section (chapter) by Combined Nomenclature (CN) | Exports | Imports | Balance | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Million euros | Share,% | Change on previous year, % | Million euros | Share, % | Change on previous year, % | Million euros
| |
| TOTAL | 17,406 | 100 | -4 | 20,656 | 100 | -2 | -3,251 |
| Agricultural products and food preparations (I–IV) | 2,133 | 12 | 6 | 2,644 | 13 | 9 | -512 |
| Mineral products (V) | 1,386 | 8 | -24 | 2,110 | 10 | -17 | -724 |
| Raw materials and products of chemical industry (VI) | 873 | 5 | -4 | 1,904 | 9 | 4 | -1,031 |
| Articles of plastics and rubber (VII) | 512 | 3 | -9 | 973 | 5 | -4 | -460 |
| Wood and articles of wood (IX) | 1,952 | 11 | 1 | 638 | 3 | -2 | 1,314 |
| Paper and articles thereof (X) | 371 | 2 | -1 | 330 | 2 | -3 | 41 |
| Textiles and textile articles (XI) | 384 | 2 | -12 | 691 | 3 | -9 | -306 |
| Base metals and articles of base metal (XV) | 1,433 | 8 | -6 | 1,732 | 8 | -7 | -299 |
| Machinery and mechanical appliances (84) | 1,539 | 9 | -10 | 1,809 | 9 | -15 | -270 |
| Electrical equipment (85) | 2,675 | 15 | 4 | 2,725 | 13 | -3 | -50 |
| Transport equipment (XVII) | 1,676 | 10 | -6 | 2,846 | 14 | 4 | -1,169 |
| Optical, measuring, precision instruments (XVIII) | 582 | 4 | 3 | 498 | 2 | -3 | 84 |
| Miscellaneous manufactured articles (XX) | 1,175 | 7 | -8 | 518 | 3 | -2 | 657 |
| Other | 714 | 4 | 7 | 1,240 | 6 | 24 | -526 |
Starting with 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. Read more about the changes here (in Estonian).
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.
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