Xifres de comerç exterior d'Estònia

Foreign Trade in Figures

Estonia is considered one of the most liberal countries in the world and is very open to trade, which represents 141.9% of GDP (World Bank, latest edition). In 2020, the country mainly exported radio-telephony transmission tools (7.7%), petroleum oils other than crude (4.4%), prefabricated buildings (2.8%), and motor cars (2.8 %). The main imports comprised petroleum oils other than crude (5.9%), motor cars (5%), radio-telephony transmission tools 3.1%), and medicaments (2.8%).

In 2020, the country’s major trading partners were the European Union, led by Finland (15.1%), Sweden (10%) and Latvia (8.7%), Russia (8.4%), and the United States (7.7%). Imports came mainly from the EU area (9.8% Germany, 9% Finland and 5.4% Poland), China (9.3%), and Russia (9.1% - Comtrade).

Estonia's merchandise trade balance is structurally negative. According to figures from WTO, in 2020 the country exported goods worth USD 16.3 billion (+1.7% y-o-y), while imports totalled USD 17.3 billion (-3.8%). Nevertheless, when computing also the trade in services, the total balance of trade is positive and is estimated to account for 0.5% of the country’s GDP in 2020 (down from 4.1% one year earlier - World Bank). In fact, Estonia exported USD 6.4 billion worth of services, importing USD 6.2 billion (-19.6% and +7.8%, respectively). According to preliminary figures from the national statistics agency, exports totalled EUR 1.5 billion on the year to May 2021, a rise of 47%, while imports came to EUR 1.6 billion, up by 50%. Finland, the U.S. and Sweden were the largest destinations for the country’s exports, with Sweden seeing the largest increase of all recipient nations, particularly driven by telecoms equipment.