Demand for Estonian goods and services improved in the second quarter in Estonia’s main export markets, especially the Nordic countries. Growth in domestic demand in Estonia increased imports at the same time, and these two factors together had a positive impact on Estonian companies engaged in foreign trade. Data from the balance of payments show that the combined turnover of exports and imports of goods and services grew by 7% in the second quarter, with exports growing by 6% and imports by 8%.
The growth in exports of goods was backed by improved sales from manufacturing in foreign markets. The biggest contributions to the growth in the turnover of exports came from exports of machinery and equipment and of electronic equipment. Sales of metal products also increased in May and June. The turnover of exports to Latvia and the Netherlands increased most in the second quarter, as exports of mineral fuels grew above all, notably sales of oil-shale oil to the Netherlands. The turnover of sales of fuels was also boosted by inflation. Exports to Finland grew in the second quarter, as more machinery and equipment and electronic equipment was exported there than before. The recovery in exports to Finland has long been awaited. Data from the balance of payments indicate growth of 7% in the turnover of exports of goods in the second quarter.
The growth in exports of services has been led for a long time now by business services and ICT services. The turnover of exports of services increased by 5% in the second quarter, with business services again contributing the most to the growth as exports of them gained 17%. Exports of travel services also grew steadily and increased by 7%. The turnover of exports of telecommunications and computer services has grown more modestly this year than previously. Exports of transport services were down, but there were still positive developments within that, as road transport grew by 10% in the quarter having been in decline for a long time, and the turnover of exports of maritime transport gained 9%. These figures equally point to a general revival in trade.
Imports of goods were boosted by purchases related to the investment in national defence, and by the general revival in private consumption, and the increase in imports of fuels. The turnover of imports of goods was 12% more in the second quarter than a year earlier, and the biggest contributors to the growth were imports of fuels, machinery and equipment, and electronics. The turnover of services imports was up by a little over 1% over the year. The largest part of this was imports of business services, which were a little more than a third of imports of services.
The balance of payments showed the current account was 290 million euros in deficit in the second quarter of 2026, or 2.6% of GDP. This deficit was larger than that in the same quarter of last year though, as imports of goods grew faster. The current account was supported by the surplus on the services account, which was a little over a billion euros in the second quarter.
Author: Mari Rell, Economist at Eesti Pank
Source: eestipank.ee
