Between Q4 2020 and Q1 2021, domestic client payments rose 0.4 percent, while the number fell 1.1 percent.

The turnover of domestic payments excluding card payments in Q1 2021 stood at €38.4 billion, while the number of payments totaled 46.6 million, the central bank says.

Turnover of card payments at points of sale fell to Q1 2021, however, likely the effect of the coronavirus pandemic and its restrictions.

The turnover of cross-border payments sent came to €18.6 billion (a rise of 42.0 percent on year to Q1 2021), across 4.5 million payments (up 43.5 percent over the same period).

Domestic payments came to 70 percent of all payments made.

Meanwhile, 87 percent of cross-border payments sent and 91 percent of those received were made in euros rather than any other currency.

Cross-border payments turnover received was €22.7 billion (a rise of 40 percent on year), totaling 3.2 million payments (54.2 percent increase on year), the Bank of Estonia says.

Breakdown of cash withdrawals and card payments

• The average ATM cash withdrawal from an ATM rose on year to €139.1 in Q1 2021, from €130.7 and from €134 in the previous quarter.
• Cash withdrawals turnover was 15.6 percent lower in Q1 than in the previous quarter, and 16.1 percent lower than a year earlier; the turnover of card payments at point of sale terminals was down 15.8 percent on the previous quarter and 2.5 percent on a year earlier.
• Turnover of payments made abroad with cards issued in Estonia was 27.6 percent lower than in the same period of the previous year.

Breakdown of payments linked to e-commerce

• Turnover of payments linked to e-commerce was 0.8 percent higher in Q1 2021 than in Q4 2020; 82.2 percent of the payments were made using a bank link, the Bank of Estonia reports.
• Average card transaction via e-commerce in Estonia rose by 12.3 percent on the previous quarter, but fell 12.7 percent between Q1 2020 and Q1 2021.

More detailed information is available from the Bank of Estonia's site here.

The Bank of Estonia (Eesti Pank) publishes its payment statistics every month, while a separate statistical release is published quarterly.

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