Exports to Asia Climbing, But Still Small Fry
Exports grew by 4 percent in 2012, with goods headed for Asia seeing the greatest proportional growth in value - a 20 percent rise, according to figures from Statistics Estonia.
Despite strong growth on the Asia front, exports to the continent still only count for 5 percent, or 600 million euros, of all of Estonia's exports.
And despite the growth, exports to China slowed from a value of 203 million euros in 2011 to only 101 million euros last year. The drop came on account of fewer mineral fuels, electrical and optical instruments. Meanwhile, imports from the world's most populous nation remained stable, at around 460 million euros in 2012.
The void was filled by increased exports to UAE (doubling to 14 million euros), India (rising from 35 to 54 million), Yemen (increasing twelvefold to 17 million), Kazakhstan (doubling to 86 million), South Korea (nearly tripling to 48 million) and Singapore (up by 10 million to 34 million).
Estonia exported 58 times more to Afghanistan in 2012 than in the previous year, with 32.5 million euros worth of goods shipped.
Rest of the world
Exports to our own continent made up 86 percent of total exports.
Exports to Africa dropped by 40 percent and to the Americas by 7 percent, making up 2 and 7 percent of all exports respectively.
More than half of exports went to the neighboring countries of Sweden, Finland, Russia and Latvia.
No goods were exported to Antarctica in 2012, following 45,000 euros worth of goods in 2011. The 2011 total was an all-time record, with the only other export to that continent recorded in the Statistics Estonia database being a 65-euro export in 2008.
For more detailed information on Estonia's exports, click here.