In September, Estonia’s foreign trade climbed to a record level
According to Statistics Estonia, in September, exports of goods increased by 30% and imports by 37% year on year. In the third quarter, exports grew by 34% and imports by 35%.
In September, Estonia’s exports of goods amounted to 1.7 billion euros and imports to 1.8 billion euros at current prices. The trade deficit was 72 million euros, having increased by 91 million euros compared to September 2020.
Evelin Puura, leading analyst at Statistics Estonia, noted that in comparison with both the same month and the same quarter of last year, increased exports and imports of mineral fuels and wood and articles of wood were significant drivers of trade growth. “In September, trade figures reached a new record. Export and import values are the highest ever: this is connected with continuing price increases as well as growth in trade volumes,” explained Puura.
The main commodities exported in September were mineral fuels, electrical equipment, and wood and articles of wood. Compared to September 2020, the biggest increases occurred in the exports of mineral fuels (up by 163 million euros), wood and articles of wood (up by 74 million euros) and electrical equipment (up by 63 million euros).
The main partner country for Estonia’s exports of goods was Finland, followed by the USA and Latvia. The biggest increase occurred in exports to the USA and the Netherlands. There were larger dispatches of telecommunications equipment, processed fuel oil, and wood and articles of wood to the USA. More processed fuel oil was exported to the Netherlands.
Re-exports from Estonia increased by 34% and exports of domestic goods by 28%. Goods of Estonian origin accounted for 73% of the total exports of goods. In the case of goods of Estonian origin, the biggest rise occurred in the exports of processed fuels, telecommunications equipment, strips of coniferous wood, wooden doors, glue-laminated timber and prefabricated wooden buildings.
The main commodities imported to Estonia were mineral fuels, electrical equipment, mechanical machinery, and base metals and articles of base metal. The imports of mineral fuels increased the most (up by 197 million euros), followed by imports of base metals and articles of base metal (up by 59 million euros) and wood and articles of wood (up by 46 million euros).
In September, the top partner countries for Estonia’s imports of goods were Finland, Russia and Germany. The biggest rise was recorded in imports from Finland and Russia. More electrical energy was imported from Finland and more fuel oils from Russia.
| Month | Exports, million euros | Imports, million euros | Balance, million euros | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2020 | 2021 | Change, % | 2020 | 2021 | Change, % | 2020 | 2021 | |
| TOTAL | 10,214 | 13,175 | 29 | 10,922 | 14,421 | 32 | -708 | -1,245 |
| 1st quarter | 3,468 | 3,910 | 13 | 3,766 | 4,284 | 14 | -297 | -374 |
| January | 1,146 | 1,189 | 4 | 1,165 | 1,306 | 12 | -19 | -117 |
| February | 1,088 | 1,257 | 15 | 1,213 | 1,327 | 9 | -124 | -70 |
| March | 1,234 | 1,464 | 19 | 1,388 | 1,651 | 19 | -154 | -187 |
| 2nd quarter | 3,187 | 4,488 | 41 | 3,361 | 5,000 | 49 | -174 | -512 |
| April | 1,016 | 1,547 | 52 | 1,085 | 1,636 | 51 | -69 | -89 |
| May | 1,001 | 1,469 | 47 | 1,095 | 1,644 | 50 | -94 | -176 |
| June | 1,170 | 1,472 | 26 | 1,181 | 1,719 | 46 | -11 | -247 |
| 3rd quarter | 3,559 | 4,778 | 34 | 3,796 | 5,137 | 35 | -237 | -359 |
| July | 1,163 | 1,506 | 30 | 1,304 | 1,677 | 29 | -141 | -170 |
| August | 1,086 | 1,571 | 45 | 1,200 | 1,688 | 41 | -114 | -117 |
| September | 1,310 | 1,700 | 30 | 1,291 | 1,772 | 37 | 18 | -72 |
| 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 | 1,700 | 100 | 30 | TOTAL | 1,772 | 100 | 37 |
| EU-27 | 1,144 | 67 | 34 | EU-27 | 1,320 | 74 | 30 |
| Euro area 19 | 863 | 51 | 40 | Euro area 19 | 1,017 | 57 | 38 |
| Non-EU | 556 | 33 | 21 | Non-EU | 453 | 26 | 66 |
| 1. Finland | 244 | 14 | 23 | 1. Finland | 292 | 16 | 70 |
| 2. USA | 209 | 12 | 119 | 2. Russia | 192 | 11 | 154 |
| 3. Latvia | 187 | 11 | 56 | 3. Germany | 180 | 10 | 25 |
| 4. Sweden | 164 | 10 | 20 | 4. Lithuania | 158 | 9 | 32 |
| 5. Netherlands | 124 | 7 | 185 | 5. Latvia | 150 | 8 | 23 |
| 6. Germany | 106 | 6 | 26 | 6. Sweden | 125 | 7 | 19 |
| 7. Lithuania | 93 | 5 | 24 | 7. Poland | 111 | 6 | 2 |
| 8. United Kingdom | 63 | 4 | 112 | 8. Netherlands | 73 | 4 | 39 |
| 9. Russia | 57 | 3 | -5 | 9. China | 65 | 4 | 6 |
| 10. Norway | 55 | 3 | 34 | 10. Belarus | 53 | 3 | 245 |
| 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 | 1,700 | 100 | 30 | 1,772 | 100 | 37 | -72 |
| Agricultural products and food preparations (I–IV) | 144 | 8 | -12 | 150 | 8 | 15 | -6 |
| Mineral products (V) | 292 | 17 | 126 | 312 | 18 | 171 | -20 |
| Raw materials and products of chemical industry (VI) | 81 | 5 | 17 | 150 | 8 | 26 | -69 |
| Articles of plastics and rubber (VII) | 53 | 3 | 26 | 102 | 6 | 31 | -49 |
| Wood and articles of wood (IX) | 202 | 12 | 58 | 100 | 6 | 85 | 102 |
| Paper and articles thereof (X) | 32 | 2 | 33 | 28 | 2 | 22 | 4 |
| Textiles and textile articles (XI) | 38 | 2 | 6 | 72 | 4 | 9 | -35 |
| Base metals and articles of base metal (XV) | 134 | 8 | 26 | 171 | 10 | 53 | -37 |
| Machinery and mechanical appliances (84) | 116 | 7 | 9 | 176 | 10 | 34 | -60 |
| Electrical equipment (85) | 279 | 16 | 29 | 194 | 11 | 12 | 85 |
| Transport equipment (XVII) | 96 | 6 | 10 | 150 | 8 | -1 | -54 |
| Optical, measuring, precision instruments (XVIII) | 42 | 2 | -18 | 35 | 2 | -8 | 6 |
| Miscellaneous manufactured articles (XX) | 131 | 8 | 32 | 45 | 3 | 36 | 87 |
| Other | 60 | 4 | 13 | 87 | 4 | 26 | -27 |
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:
Hanna-Liisa Ruul
Communications Partner
Marketing and Dissemination Department
Statistics Estonia
Tel +372 53 411 977