Estonia's economy grows 4.2 percent on year in third quarter
According to information released by Statistics Estonia on Friday, Estonia's gross domestic product (GDP) grew 4.2 percent on year in the third quarter of 2019. The Estonian GDP was €7 billion at current prices.
The seasonally- and working day-adjusted GDP grew 1 percent compared to the previous quarter. On year, the seasonally- and working day-adjusted GDP grew 4.1 percent.
Contribution to economic growth indicates the share of the growth of an economic activity's added value in GDP growth. For the second quarter in a row, the biggest contributor to economic growth was information and communication. Information and communication was followed by agriculture, forestry and fishing, professional, scientific and technical activities, wholesale and retail trade, and manufacturing, transportation and storage. The last time agriculture, forestry and fishing had such a strong impact on the GDP was in the second quarter of 2018.
The most notable negative impact on economic growth came from electricity, gas, steam and air conditioning supply. Construction likewise had a significant negative impact.
Domestic demand grew 3.9 percent, due primarily to gross fixed capital formation, which grew 8.1 percent. Investment growth was broad-based, and only the government sector had a negative impact. Household final consumption, meanwhile, grew a modest 1.2 percent in the third quarter.
The exports of goods and services increased 7 percent on year. The export of goods grew 8.6 percent, largely on account of the export of wood products, motor vehicles as well as products of agriculture and hunting. The export of services, meanwhile, grew 4.2 percent, with growth led by computer services.
The imports of goods and services grew 4.4 percent, with goods imports increasing 5.4 percent, largely due to the import of vehicles, and services imports increasing 1.7 percent.
Productivity per person employed increased 2.3 percent in the third quarter due to historically high numbers of persons employed. Productivity per hour, meanwhile, grew 3.4 percent, with unit labor costs increasing 2.2 percent.
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Editor: Aili Vahtla