Boosted by sales of mineral fuels and electricity, Estonia’s imports and exports reached a record high in March, growing by more than 30% YoY, data from Statistics Estonia showed.
In March, exports increased by 35% and imports by 31% compared to March 2021. Compared to the first quarter of last year, exports grew by 30% and imports by 34%.
In March and in the first quarter as a whole, trade was primarily boosted by the increased exports and imports of mineral fuels and electricity.
In March, Estonia’s exports of goods amounted to almost EUR 2 billion and imports to nearly EUR 2.2 billion at current prices. The trade deficit was EUR 191 million and grew by about EUR 3 million compared to March 2021.
Evelin Puura, leading analyst at Statistics Estonia, said export prices rose by 24% YoY and import prices by 27%, which had a strong impact on trade turnover.
“In March, as well as in the first quarter in general, trade was significantly influenced by the exports and imports of mineral fuels and electricity, wood and articles of wood, agricultural products and food preparations, and base metals and articles of base metal,” she said.
The main commodities exported in March were mineral fuels and electricity, electrical equipment and wood and articles of wood.
Compared to March 2021, the biggest increase occurred in the exports of mineral fuels, which grow by EUR 229 million.
The exports of base metals and articles of base metal grew by EUR 58 million, and the exports of wood and articles of wood by EUR 48 million.
The main partner country for Estonia’s exports of goods was Finland, followed by Latvia and Sweden. The main commodities exported were parts for engines and metal structures to Finland, electricity to Latvia, and prefabricated wooden buildings and communication equipment to Sweden.
The biggest increase occurred in exports to Latvia, Finland and Greece. More electricity was exported to Latvia, there were larger dispatches of metal structures to Finland and bigger dispatches of mineral fuels to Greece.
Re-exports from Estonia increased by 51% 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 processed fuels, scrap metal and prefabricated wooden buildings.
The main commodities imported to Estonia were mineral fuels and electricity, electrical equipment, base metals and articles of base metal, and raw materials and products of chemical industry.
The imports of mineral fuels (incl. natural gas and motor fuel) and electricity increased the most (+EUR 111 million), followed by imports of base metals and articles of base metal (+EUR 91 million) and imports of raw materials and products of chemical industry (+EUR 68 million).
The top partner countries for Estonia’s imports of goods were Finland, Lithuania and Germany. The biggest rise was recorded in imports from Finland, Lithuania and Russia. There were greater imports of electricity from Finland, bigger imports of motor fuels from Lithuania and increased imports of mineral fuels from Russia. (ERR/Business World Magazine)
