The rise in services exports slowed down in the third quarter
According to Statistics Estonia and Eesti Pank, in the third quarter of 2023, Estonia’s exports of services grew by 1% and imports by 3% at current prices compared with the same quarter of 2022. Sales of services to non-residents totalled 2.8 billion euros and purchases of services from non-residents amounted to 2.2 billion euros. The balance of foreign trade in services was in surplus by 557 million euros.
Jane Leppmets, analyst at Statistics Estonia, said that, in the third quarter, exports and imports of services increased primarily due to the trade in telecommunications, computer and information services. “It is one of the top service categories in Estonia’s exports and imports. Within this category, the exports and imports of computer programming and consultancy services dominated again in the third quarter,” added Leppmets.
Leppmets explained that the top services exported in the third quarter were other business services (incl. other business support services) for 759 million euros. This was followed by exports of telecommunications, computer and information services (incl. computer programming and consultancy) for 673 million euros, and exports of transport services (incl. road freight transport) for 578 million euros. Compared with the third quarter of 2022, the biggest increase occurred in the exports of telecommunications, computer and information services, travel services, and financial services. The biggest fall occurred in the sales of transport services to non-residents.
In the third quarter, Finland was the top partner country for Estonia’s exports of services, with travel services being the biggest export item. Finland was followed by the USA, with telecommunications, computer and information services being the main type of services supplied, and Sweden, where Estonian enterprises exported primarily transport services. The biggest rise was recorded in sales of services to the USA (up by 38 million euros), Luxembourg (up by 33 million euros) and Ireland (up by 20 million euros). Year on year, there were greater exports of telecommunications, computer and information services to the USA and to Luxembourg, and more sales of other business services to Ireland. The biggest fall was registered in exports of services to non-EU countries, especially Russia (down by 55 million euros) due to decreased sales of transport services.
The main services imported to Estonia in the third quarter this year were other business services (incl. other business support services) for 631 million euros, followed by transport services (incl. sea freight transport) for 574 million euros, and telecommunications, computer and information services (incl. computer programming and consultancy) for 452 million euros. Compared with the third quarter of 2022, the biggest rise occurred in the purchases of telecommunications, computer and information services, other business services, and construction services from non-residents. The imports of transport services declined the most year on year.
In the third quarter of 2023, the main partner countries for imports of services were Finland, Lithuania and Germany, with transport services being the top import item. The biggest rise was recorded in imports of services from Ireland (up by 45 million euros), the USA (up by 39 million euros) and Lithuania (up by 34 million euros). Year on year, there were more purchases of other business services from Ireland and Lithuania, and greater imports of telecommunications, computer and information services from the USA. The biggest decline occurred in imports of services from Russia (down by 25 million euros), Luxembourg (down by 22 million euros) and Finland (down by 21 million euros). Compared with the third quarter of 2022, there were fewer purchases of transport services from Russia and Finland, and smaller imports of other business services from Luxembourg.
| 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 | 2,798 | 100 | 1 | TOTAL | 2,241 | 100 | 3 |
| EU-27 | 1,891 | 68 | 6 | EU-27 | 1,580 | 71 | 4 |
| Euro area 20 | 1,493 | 53 | 7 | Euro area 20 | 1,260 | 56 | 3 |
| Non-EU | 907 | 32 | -8 | Non-EU | 661 | 29 | 1 |
| 1. Finland | 508 | 18 | 1 | 1. Finland | 169 | 8 | -11 |
| 2. USA | 214 | 8 | 22 | 2. Lithuania | 169 | 8 | 25 |
| 3. Sweden | 209 | 7 | 5 | 3. Germany | 163 | 7 | -2 |
| 4. Germany | 175 | 6 | 4 | 4. Latvia | 157 | 7 | 10 |
| 5. United Kingdom | 160 | 6 | -3 | 5. United Kingdom | 132 | 6 | 22 |
| 6. Lithuania | 141 | 5 | 6 | 6. Ireland | 124 | 6 | 57 |
| 7. Latvia | 136 | 5 | -9 | 7. Sweden | 117 | 5 | 11 |
| 8. Netherlands | 97 | 3 | 14 | 8. USA | 111 | 5 | 55 |
| 9. Ireland | 82 | 3 | 32 | 9. Poland | 95 | 4 | 13 |
| 10. Poland | 69 | 2 | 11 | 10. Netherlands | 89 | 4 | 15 |
| Type of service (according to EBOPS 2010) | Exports of services | Imports of services | Balance, million euros | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Million euros |
Share, % |
Change on previous year, % | Million euros | Share, % | Change on previous year, % | ||
| TOTAL | 2,798 | 100 | 1 | 2,241 | 100 | 3 | 557 |
| Manufacturing services on physical inputs owned by others (SA) | 81 | 3 | 11 | 25 | 1 | -2 | 56 |
| Maintenance and repair services n.i.e. (SB) | 53 | 2 | 18 | 30 | 1 | -8 | 23 |
| Transport (SC) | 578 | 21 | -19 | 574 | 26 | -16 | 4 |
| Travel (SD) | 415 | 15 | 7 | 391 | 18 | 4 | 24 |
| Construction (SE) | 111 | 4 | 13 | 31 | 1 | 134 | 80 |
| Insurance and pension services (SF) | 4 | 0 | -27 | 13 | 1 | 42 | -8 |
| Financial services (excl. insurance and pension services) (SG) | 47 | 2 | 41 | 42 | 2 | 57 | 5 |
| Charges for the use of intellectual property n.i.e. (SH) | 27 | 1 | 40 | 19 | 1 | 24 | 8 |
| Telecommunications, computer and information services (SI) | 673 | 24 | 17 | 452 | 20 | 31 | 221 |
| Other business services (SJ) | 759 | 27 | -2 | 631 | 28 | 4 | 128 |
| Personal, cultural and recreational services (SK) | 39 | 1 | -7 | 26 | 1 | 19 | 13 |
| Government goods and services (SL) | 11 | 0 | -25 | 8 | 0 | -27 | 4 |
Statistics Estonia collects and analyses the data on foreign trade in services in cooperation with Eesti Pank, as commissioned by 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.
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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Silvia Uus
Communications Partner
Marketing and Dissemination Department
Statistics Estonia
Tel +372 625 9367
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