The economy grew by 1.8% in the second quarter

Robert Müürsepp, the National Accounts Service Manager at Statistics Estonia, said that the Estonian economy grew for the fifth quarter in a row. “In the second quarter, two thirds of the economic activities made a positive contribution to the GDP. Similarly to the first quarter, manufacturing was the biggest driver of economic growth as its value added grew by 6.5%. It was followed by agriculture, forestry and fishing where the increase in value added was 168% due to the exceptionally low reference base of last year. In construction, value added was up by 7.5%,” said Müürsepp.

A considerable increase in value added was also recorded for mining and quarrying (15.5%), water supply, sewerage, waste management and remediation activities (14.3%) and other service activities (12.3%). But as these are smaller economic activities, their contribution to GDP growth was minor.

The biggest negative contributors were real estate activities with a 3.6% decrease in value added, wholesale and retail trade with a 3.2% decrease in value added, and electricity, gas, steam and air conditioning supply where value added declined by 9.6%.

Value added and tax revenue increased by 1.8%

In the second quarter, value added increased by 1.8%, similarly to the GDP. Value added is the total output of enterprises after taking away the value of inputs used for production. Non-financial corporations had the biggest impact with a 2.3% increase in their value added. “This sector last made a contribution at this level exactly a year ago, in the second quarter of last year,” noted Müürsepp. Value added grew by 2.2% in the financial corporations sector and by 1.1% in the government sector. The value added of the non-profit institutions sector only grew by 0.6%.

Tax revenue also grew at the same rate as the GDP – by 1.8%. “The impact of tax revenue on economic growth has not been this small since the first quarter of 2025,” added Müürsepp.

Private consumption grew by 1.6%, i.e. slightly slower than the GDP. Müürsepp said that private consumption showed growth for two consecutive quarters for the first time since the end of 2023 and beginning of 2024. The biggest increase occurred in households’ expenditures on recreation and culture. Households also spent more on other goods and services, furnishings, information and communication, and health. The biggest decrease occurred in the spending on tobacco and alcoholic beverages. There was also a slight fall in households’ expenditures on clothing and footwear, and food and non-alcoholic beverages.

The growth in the final consumption expenditure of the government sector slowed down and was 0.5% in the second quarter. The final consumption expenditure in the non-profit institutions sector was down by 0.1%.

Investments decreased, foreign trade grew

Investments decreased for the second quarter in a row. Here, households had the biggest impact as their investments in dwellings were down by 22.2%. Investments decreased by 12.5% in the non-financial corporations sector – there were fewer investments in other buildings and structures as well as in transport equipment. On a positive note, investments were up by 15% in the government sector. “Although investments in other machinery and equipment decreased, the government sector invested about 50% more in buildings and structures than in the second quarter last year,” said Müürsepp.

Foreign trade picked up in the second quarter with exports growing by 2.7% and imports by 4.3%. “For the first time since the fourth quarter of 2024, net exports were negative. It means that Estonia’s imports of goods and services exceeded exports by 70 million euros,” explained Müürsepp.

In trade in goods, exports rose by 4.2% and imports by as much as 6.9%. Trade in electricity had the biggest impact on this. Trade in services remained similar to last year’s levels – exports of services were up by 0.8% and imports of services down by 1%. There was a rise in the supply of cultural and recreational services, and other business services. Imports of other business services increased as well. The fall in services imports was mainly due to transport and communication services.

The seasonally and working-day adjusted GDP increased by 0.3% compared with the first quarter of 2026 and by 1.8% compared with the second quarter of 2025.

On 14 August, Statistics Estonia published revised national accounts data for 2022–2025. Today, the revised data for the first quarter of 2026 are published. GDP revisions are carried out regularly each year, with the revised data published in August. The revision is based on the latest data sources and revised accounts.

The national accounts produced by Statistics Estonia are based on EMTAK 2008, the 2008 version of the Estonian Classification of Economic Activities which is based on NACE Rev. 2. The Business Register only uses EMTAK 2025, the new version of the national classification, starting from 2025. In the European Union, national accounts statistics based on NACE Rev. 2.1 (which is the basis for EMTAK 2025) will be published from 2030 according to current plans. 

The growth or decline of the economy is mainly measured by GDP and gross national income. The higher these indicators, the better Estonia and the people living here are doing.

Statistics Estonia performs the statistical activity “National accounts” for the Ministry of Finance in order to determine how the Estonian economy is doing.

Data as at 31 August 2026 are published. The indicator values may change if there are any revisions made in the data sources after this date.

More detailed data have been published in the statistical database. See also the national accounts section on our website.

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

For further information:

Annaliisa Köss
Media Relations Partner
Marketing and Dissemination Department
Statistics Estonia
Tel +372 5696 6484
press [at] stat.ee (press[at]stat[dot]ee)

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