Statistics: Exports rise for second month running
Exports rose by 10 percent on year to October 2020, while imports fell by 5 percent over the same period, state agency Statistics Estonia reports. October was the second month in a row when exports increased.
Both exports and imports totalled €1.4 billion in October.
Goods of Estonian origin made up 75 percent of the total; exports to non-EU countries rose by 38 percent, while to EU countries they fell by 2 percent.
The trade surplus stood at €27 million in October 2020, compared with a deficit in October 2019 of €173 million, Statistics Estonia says.
Evelin Puura, leading analyst at Statistics Estonia, said that as a result of increased exports of goods of Estonian origin, exports exceeded imports for the second month in a row.
She said: "The goods of Estonian origin accounted for three quarters of the total exports, and their dispatches increased by 21 percent year-on-year. The growth was driven to a large extent by the exports of communication equipment, processed heavy fuel oils, shale oil and wheat of Estonian origin."
Export breakdown
Electrical equipment, agricultural products and food preparations, and mineral products, were the most significant exports.
The largest fall in exports came with mechanical appliances, the agency said.
Finland was the main destination of Estonian exports, followed by the U.S. and Sweden.
Exports to the U.S. rose 240 percent, particularly thanks to a rise in communications equipment exported there, while Germany (refined fuels and wooden structures) and the Netherlands (wheat and refined fuels) were the other two countries with the largest rise in exports.
Belgium was the export destination country which saw the largest fall in exports, as fewer mineral products were consigned there.
Import breakdown
Electrical equipment, mineral products and mechanical appliances were the most-imported items, Statistics Estonia says.
The largest falls were seen in the imports of motor fuels and transport equipment, which the largest rise too place with mechanical appliance imports.
The main countries of consignment were Finland, Germany and Latvia. Imports decreased the most from Lithuania and Belarus, with the largest decline being in the imports of motor fuel, the agency said.
Chinese imports, principally electrical equipment, saw the largest fall.
More detailed data is here, and Statistics Estonia's foreign trade sector is here. Visualised data of Estonia's foreign trade can be viewed in Statistics Estonia's application.
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Editor: Andrew Whyte