Trade in Estonia grew by a third YoY in January, significantly boosted by a rise exports and imports and higher prices for mineral fuels and electricity, state agency Statistics Estonia reported.
In January, Estonia’s exports of goods increased by 35% and imports by 36%.
Exports of goods in January amounted to EUR 1.6 billion and imports to nearly EUR 1.8 billion, at current prices.
Trade deficit stood at EUR 178 million and grew by EUR 62 million.
Evelin Puura, leading analyst at Statistics Estonia, said: “The rise in prices had the biggest impact on trade in mineral fuels and electricity. In January, mineral fuels and electricity accounted for 19% of exports and 20% of imports.”
Trade was influenced by the low reference base of January 2021 and also by the rising prices of raw materials, Puura added.
The main commodities exported were mineral fuels and electricity, electrical equipment and wooden items.
Compared with January 2021, the largest increase occurred in the exports of mineral fuels (including processed mineral oils, natural gas) and electricity, which grew by EUR 128 million.
The exports of wood and articles of wood (including wood pellets, coniferous wood strips, plywood) grew by EUR 64 million, while the exports of agricultural products and food preparations (including feed barley) by EUR 45 million.
Re-exports from Estonia rose by 49% and exports of domestic goods by 29%.
Goods of Estonian origin accounted for 70% of the total exports of goods. In the case of goods of Estonian origin, the biggest rise occurred in the exports of feed barley, processed fuels and scrap metal.
Estonia’s main export partner was Finland, followed by Latvia and Sweden.
The main commodities exported were natural gas and parts for engines and loaders to Finland, electricity and motor cars to Latvia, and communication equipment, prefabricated wooden buildings and wood pellets to Sweden.
The largest increase occurred in exports to Latvia, Finland and Lithuania. More electricity was exported to Latvia and to Finland, and there were larger dispatches of transport equipment to Lithuania.
The main commodities imported to Estonia were mineral fuels and electricity, base metals and articles of base metal, electrical equipment and raw materials and products of chemical industry, Statistics Estonia said.
The imports of mineral fuels (including oils imported for processing and natural gas) and electricity increased the most (by EUR 113 million), followed by imports of base metals and articles of base metal (by EUR 77 million) and raw materials and products of chemical industry (by EUR 42 million).
The top partner countries for Estonia’s imports of goods were Finland, Russia and Latvia.
The largest rise was recorded in imports from Finland, Russia and Lithuania. There were greater imports of electricity and diesel fuel from Finland, greater imports of nitrogen fertilizer and mineral fuels for processing from Russia, and increased imports of diesel fuel and aviation fuel from Lithuania. (ERR/Business World Magazine)