Trade deficit increased in October
According to Statistics Estonia, in October 2022, Estonia’s exports of goods increased by 11% and imports by 15% at current prices compared with October 2021.
Evelin Puura, leading analyst at Statistics Estonia, said that, in October, Estonia’s exports of goods amounted to 1.8 billion and imports to 2.1 billion euros. The trade deficit was 238 million euros, which is 82 million euros more than in October last year. “In the first ten months of 2022, the trade deficit has almost doubled compared with the same period last year, showing that we continue to import more goods than we export. Higher price increases for imported goods and raw materials than for exported goods also contribute to widening the gap. In the first 10 months of this year, import prices have risen by 27% and export prices by 25%,” Puura added.
In October, the main partner country for Estonia’s exports of goods was again Finland (15% of total exports), followed by Latvia (14%) and Sweden (9%). The main commodities exported were natural gas, parts for engines, and metal structures to Finland, electricity, automobiles, and crude milk to Latvia, and prefabricated wooden buildings and communication equipment to Sweden. The biggest increase occurred in exports to Latvia (up by 68 million euros), Sweden (up by 23 million euros), and Saudi Arabia (up by 21 million euros). Compared with last year, more electricity, automobiles, and wood pellets were exported to Latvia, doors and windows of coniferous wood and prefabricated wooden buildings to Sweden, and edible wheat to Saudi Arabia. Exports decreased to the United States (down by 62 million euros), where less communication equipment was exported, and to the United Kingdom (down by 27 million euros), where less mineral fuels were dispatched.
The main commodities exported in October were mineral fuels and electricity (for 259 million euros), electrical equipment (for 250 million euros), and agricultural products and food preparations (for 238 million euros). Compared with October 2021, the biggest increase occurred in the exports of agricultural products and food preparations and mechanical appliances. The biggest fall, however, was recorded in the exports of base metals and articles of base metal, mineral fuels, and electricity.
Goods of Estonian origin accounted for 66% of the total exports of goods, down from 72% in October last year. Re-exports from Estonia increased by 35% compared with a year earlier, while exports of domestic goods only rose by 2%. The decline in the share of domestic goods in total exports has been most affected by the slowdown in exports of mineral products, communication equipment, scrap metal, and prefabricated wooden buildings.
The top partner countries for Estonia’s imports of goods were Finland (16% of Estonia’s total imports), Latvia (12%), and Lithuania (11%). Compared with October 2021, the biggest rise was recorded in imports from Latvia (up by 93 million euros), followed by imports from Finland (up by 49 million euros) and Kuwait (up by 41 million euros). Compared with a year earlier, more natural gas from Latvia, electricity from Finland, and mineral fuels from Kuwait were imported to Estonia. The biggest decrease occurred in imports from Russia (down by 101 million euros) and Belarus (down by 56 million euros).
The main commodities imported to Estonia in October were mineral products (for 428 million euros), electrical equipment (for 242 million euros), and mechanical appliances (for 206 million euros). The biggest increases were in imports of motor fuels, natural gas, electricity, automobiles, and mechanical appliances. Imports of wood and articles of wood and base metals and articles of base metal decreased.
| Month | Exports, million euros | Imports, million euros | Balance, million euros | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 2022 | Change, % | 2021 | 2022 | Change, % | 2021 | 2022 | |
| TOTAL | 14,819 | 17,872 | 21 | 16,241 | 20,533 | 26 | -1,421 | -2,662 |
| January | 1,187 | 1,619 | 36 | 1,305 | 1,774 | 36 | -118 | -155 |
| February | 1,254 | 1,488 | 19 | 1,325 | 1,774 | 34 | -71 | -286 |
| March | 1,464 | 1,979 | 35 | 1,654 | 2,160 | 31 | -190 | -181 |
| April | 1,538 | 1,600 | 4 | 1,639 | 2,120 | 29 | -101 | -520 |
| May | 1,473 | 1,932 | 31 | 1,648 | 2,213 | 34 | -174 | -281 |
| June | 1,465 | 1,844 | 26 | 1,722 | 2,127 | 24 | -257 | -283 |
| July | 1,503 | 1,701 | 13 | 1,676 | 2,020 | 21 | -173 | -320 |
| August | 1,572 | 1,915 | 22 | 1,690 | 2,161 | 28 | -118 | -246 |
| September | 1,706 | 1,952 | 14 | 1,769 | 2,104 | 19 | -63 | -152 |
| October | 1,657 | 1,842 | 11 | 1,813 | 2,080 | 15 | -156 | -238 |
| 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 | 1,842 | 100 | 11 | TOTAL | 2,080 | 100 | 15 |
| EU-27 | 1,301 | 71 | 16 | EU-27 | 1,695 | 81 | 25 |
| Euro area 19 | 975 | 53 | 15 | Euro area 19 | 1,309 | 63 | 24 |
| Non-EU | 541 | 29 | 0 | Non-EU | 385 | 19 | -16 |
| 1. Finland | 278 | 15 | 8 | 1. Finland | 326 | 16 | 18 |
| 2. Latvia | 250 | 14 | 37 | 2. Latvia | 251 | 12 | 59 |
| 3. Sweden | 168 | 9 | 16 | 3. Lithuania | 223 | 11 | 15 |
| 4. Lithuania | 111 | 6 | 15 | 4. Germany | 217 | 10 | 22 |
| 5. Netherlands | 104 | 6 | 11 | 5. Sweden | 149 | 7 | 24 |
| 6. Germany | 99 | 5 | 0 | 6. Poland | 149 | 7 | 32 |
| 7. USA | 94 | 5 | -40 | 7. Netherlands | 91 | 4 | 21 |
| 8. Russia | 74 | 4 | 14 | 8. China | 82 | 4 | 30 |
| 9. Norway | 63 | 3 | 21 | 9. Russia | 65 | 3 | -61 |
| 10. Denmark | 57 | 3 | 45 | 10. Italy | 54 | 3 | 22 |
| 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 | 1,842 | 100 | 11 | 2,080 | 100 | 15 | -238 |
| Agricultural products and food preparations (I–IV) | 238 | 13 | 63 | 197 | 9 | 22 | 41 |
| Mineral products (V) | 259 | 14 | -4 | 428 | 21 | 45 | -169 |
| Raw materials and products of chemical industry (VI) | 90 | 5 | 13 | 175 | 8 | 12 | -85 |
| Articles of plastics and rubber (VII) | 54 | 3 | 4 | 103 | 5 | 0 | -49 |
| Wood and articles of wood (IX) | 205 | 11 | 7 | 65 | 3 | -28 | 139 |
| Paper and articles thereof (X) | 39 | 2 | 7 | 32 | 2 | 8 | 8 |
| Textiles and textile articles (XI) | 42 | 2 | 16 | 79 | 4 | 12 | -36 |
| Base metals and articles of base metal (XV) | 126 | 7 | -8 | 175 | 8 | -11 | -49 |
| Machinery and mechanical appliances (84) | 167 | 9 | 31 | 206 | 10 | 30 | -39 |
| Electrical equipment (85) | 250 | 13 | 1 | 242 | 12 | 9 | 8 |
| Transport equipment (XVII) | 124 | 7 | 25 | 193 | 9 | 26 | -69 |
| Optical, measuring, precision instruments (XVIII) | 53 | 3 | 42 | 45 | 2 | 19 | 8 |
| Miscellaneous manufactured articles (XX) | 128 | 7 | -5 | 55 | 3 | -3 | 73 |
| Other | 67 | 4 | 10 | 86 | 4 | 2 | -19 |
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:
Helen Maria Raadik
Media Relations Manager
Marketing and Dissemination Department
Statistics Estonia
Tel +372 625 9181