In the second quarter of this year, Estonia's GDP totaled €7.1 billion at current prices.

The seasonally and working day adjusted GDP grew 0.4 percent compared to the previous quarter and 3.8 percent on year.

The biggest contributor to economic growth was information and communication, where the value added increased faster than ever. Professional, scientific and technical activities, wholesale and retail trade and manufacturing also contributed significantly. Similarly to information and communication, the contribution of professional, scientific and technical activities to economic growth was the biggest in the past 15 years.

For the second consecutive quarter, the only significant negative impact on the economic growth came from electricity, gas, steam and air conditioning supply.

Domestic demand increased 5.7 percent in the second quarter. This growth was driven by investments, which increased 24.6 percent. The major contributions to the growth were investments made by non-financial enterprises into buildings and structures, and into transport equipment. Households' investments into dwellings contributed notably as well. The only negative contribution to investment was that of the government sector. Second quarter private consumption grew modestly — by 1.1 percent.

Goods and services exports, imports up

Exports of goods and services grew 2.2 percent in the second quarter of 2019. The export of goods increased 3.7 percent, with the biggest contribution coming from computers, electronic and optical equipment. The exports of services experienced a slight decline of 0.5 percent, due primarily to modest sales of storage and support services for transportation and travel services.

The imports of goods and services, meanwhile, grew 5 percent. The import of goods grew 5.8 percent, due in large part to imports of motor vehicles, trailers and semitrailers. Growth in the imports of services remained steady at 2.6 percent. In the second quarter of 2019, the share of net exports in GDP was 3.4 percent.

In the second quarter, the number of employed persons and the number of hours worked both remained at the same level as in the previous quarter. As a result, productivity per person employed increased 3.8 percent, while productivity per hour worked was up 3.9 percent. Unit labor costs increased 7.3 percent under the wage growth pressure.

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