Trade Picks Up Following Summer Slowdown
The nation's export and import totals each landed firmly in the billion-plus zone in August, scoring respective increases of 45 percent and 42 percent compared to the same month of last year, new figures from Statistics Estonia show.
While not quite matching the 2.3-billion-euro record highs achieved in the March-May period, August's results mark a noticeable improvement over the interim months. Compared to July, exports jumped 11 percent to reach 1 billion euros and imports shot up 8 percent to hit 1.1 billion euros.
As has been the case throughout the year, a rapid growth in machinery and equipment trade has been largely credited with boosting the numbers on both sides of the import/export equation. The category now accounts for 31 percent of all exports and 28 percent of imports.
The nation's largest export destination in August was Sweden, taking up 17 percent of the total, followed by Finland at 16 percent and Russia at 14 percent.
The largest share of imported goods for the month, 13 percent, came from Finland, with Sweden and Latvia both trailing at 11 percent.
Steve Roman