Trade in goods down in August, most notably with EU countries
According to Statistics Estonia, in August 2024, Estonia’s exports of goods decreased by 1% and imports by 8% compared with August 2023. Exports of goods amounted to nearly 1.5 billion and imports to more than 1.6 billion euros at current prices. The trade deficit was 169 million euros, which is 122 million euros less than in August last year.
Evelin Puura, the foreign trade statistics team lead at Statistics Estonia, said that trade in August was affected by the continued decline in exports and imports in trade with European Union (EU) countries. “Compared with August 2023, exports to EU countries decreased by 3% and imports from EU countries by 8%. At the same time, extra-EU exports were up by 6%,” noted Puura.
The main commodities exported in August were electrical equipment (16% of Estonia’s total exports), agricultural products and food preparations (11%), and wood and articles of wood (11%). Year on year, the biggest decrease occurred in the exports of mineral fuels (down by 31 million euros) and mechanical appliances (down by 26 million euros). The largest increase occurred in the exports of electrical equipment from Estonia (up by 25 million euros).
Estonia’s top export partner in August was Finland (15% of total exports), followed by Latvia (13%) and Sweden (9%). The main commodities exported were electrical equipment (incl. phones, parts of motors) to Finland, mineral fuels (incl. natural gas) to Latvia, and articles of wood (incl. windows and doors) to Sweden. The greatest decline occurred in exports to Singapore (down by 44 million euros) and to Finland (down by 39 million euros), due to lower exports of mineral products (incl. shale oil, fuel oil). Exports to the Netherlands grew the most (by 34 million euros), with increased dispatches of mineral products (incl. shale oil).
Exports of goods of Estonian origin decreased by 2% in August compared with the same month in 2023. The share of goods of Estonian origin in total exports remained unchanged and was 63% in August this year as well.
The main commodities imported in August were agricultural products and food preparations, electrical equipment, and mineral products (each represented 13% of Estonia’s total imports). Compared with August 2023, the biggest decrease occurred in the imports of electrical equipment (down by 39 million euros) and mechanical appliances (down by 35 million euros). The imports of agricultural products and food preparations grew the most (by 10 million euros).
In August, the top partner countries for imports of goods were Finland (16% of Estonia’s total imports), Lithuania (11%) and Germany (11%). The main commodities imported were mineral products from Finland and Lithuania and transport equipment from Germany. The biggest decline year on year was registered in imports of goods from Denmark (down by 32 million euros), Finland (down by 32 million euros), Germany and the United States (both down by 22 million euros). There were fewer arrivals of electrical equipment (incl. generators) from Denmark, fewer imports of mineral products (incl. electricity) from Finland, decreased arrivals of transport equipment (incl. motor cars, tractors) from Germany, and decreased imports of mineral fuels from the United States. Imports from Sweden grew the most (by 5 million euros).
Month | Exports, million euros | Imports, million euros | Balance, million euros | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
2023 | 2024 | Change, % | 2023 | 2024 | Change, % | 2023 | 2024 | |
TOTAL | 12,372 | 11,383 | -8 | 14,365 | 13,521 | -6 | -1,993 | -2,139 |
January | 1,556 | 1,335 | -14 | 1,737 | 1,599 | -8 | -181 | -264 |
February | 1,585 | 1,330 | -16 | 1,721 | 1,589 | -8 | -136 | -259 |
March | 1,740 | 1,456 | -16 | 1,972 | 1,699 | -14 | -231 | -242 |
April | 1,489 | 1,531 | 3 | 1,730 | 1,878 | 9 | -240 | -346 |
May | 1,650 | 1,555 | -6 | 1,959 | 1,760 | -10 | -309 | -204 |
June | 1,600 | 1,370 | -14 | 1,841 | 1,680 | -9 | -241 | -309 |
July | 1,265 | 1,333 | 5 | 1,630 | 1,679 | 3 | -365 | -345 |
August | 1,486 | 1,470 | -1 | 1,777 | 1,639 | -8 | -291 | -169 |
| Country of destination, group of countries | Exports, million euros | Share, % | Change on same month of previous year, % | Country of consignment, group of countries | Imports, million euros | Share, % | Change on same month of previous year, % |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| TOTAL | 1,470 | 100 | -1 | TOTAL | 1,639 | 100 | -8 |
| EU-27 | 1,072 | 73 | -3 | EU-27 | 1,395 | 85 | -8 |
| Euro area 20 | 825 | 56 | -2 | Euro area 20 | 1,052 | 64 | -8 |
| Non-EU | 399 | 27 | 6 | Non-EU | 244 | 15 | -8 |
| 1. Finland | 227 | 15 | -15 | 1. Finland | 258 | 16 | -11 |
| 2. Latvia | 188 | 13 | -4 | 2. Lithuania | 188 | 11 | -6 |
| 3. Sweden | 126 | 9 | -12 | 3. Germany | 185 | 11 | -11 |
| 4. Lithuania | 113 | 8 | -10 | 4. Latvia | 169 | 10 | -1 |
| 5. Germany | 104 | 7 | 23 | 5. Sweden | 134 | 8 | 5 |
| 6. Netherlands | 84 | 6 | 68 | 6. Poland | 131 | 8 | 2 |
| 7. USA | 59 | 4 | 74 | 7. Netherlands | 92 | 6 | 0 |
| 8. Poland | 51 | 3 | -1 | 8. China | 72 | 4 | -19 |
| 9. Norway | 50 | 3 | -11 | 9. Czechia | 34 | 2 | -17 |
| 10. United Kingdom | 46 | 3 | 49 | 10. Italy | 34 | 2 | -21 |
| Commodity section (chapter) by Combined Nomenclature (CN) | Exports | Imports | Balance | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Million euros | Share,% | Change on same month of previous year, % | Million euros | Share, % | Change on same month of previous year, % | Million euros | |
| TOTAL | 1,470 | 100 | -1 | 1,639 | 100 | -8 | -169 |
| Agricultural products and food preparations (I–IV) | 165 | 11 | 8 | 216 | 13 | 5 | -51 |
| Mineral products (V) | 154 | 10 | -17 | 207 | 13 | -8 | -53 |
| Raw materials and products of chemical industry (VI) | 73 | 5 | -5 | 157 | 10 | 3 | -84 |
| Articles of plastics and rubber (VII) | 43 | 3 | -9 | 84 | 5 | -2 | -41 |
| Wood and articles of wood (IX) | 155 | 11 | 5 | 54 | 3 | 10 | 101 |
| Paper and articles thereof (X) | 32 | 2 | 1 | 31 | 2 | 5 | 1 |
| Textiles and textile articles (XI) | 31 | 2 | -13 | 59 | 4 | -22 | -28 |
| Base metals and articles of base metal (XV) | 125 | 9 | 8 | 141 | 9 | -9 | -15 |
| Machinery and mechanical appliances (84) | 123 | 8 | -17 | 136 | 8 | -20 | -13 |
| Electrical equipment (85) | 232 | 16 | 12 | 214 | 13 | -15 | 18 |
| Transport equipment (XVII) | 134 | 9 | 0 | 183 | 11 | -12 | -49 |
| Optical, measuring, precision instruments (XVIII) | 43 | 3 | 4 | 44 | 3 | 20 | -1 |
| Miscellaneous manufactured articles (XX) | 99 | 7 | -7 | 42 | 3 | -6 | 57 |
| Other | 62 | 4 | 8 | 73 | 3 | -18 | -11 |
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.
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