Foreign trade has been most affected by the reduced trade in mineral fuels and wood and articles of wood.

Jane Leppmets, analyst at Statistics Estonia, said that, in April, Estonia’s exports of goods amounted to 1.5 billion and imports to 1.8 billion euros at current prices. “The trade deficit was 227 million euros in April. It decreased by about 305 million euros year on year, down from 532 million euros in April last year. But the continuing trend is that Estonia’s imports exceed exports,” added Leppmets.

The main commodities exported in April were electrical equipment, agricultural products and food preparations, and wood and articles of wood. The biggest fall was recorded in the exports of mineral products (down by 53 million euros). The exports of wood and articles of wood decreased by 38 million euros and the exports of miscellaneous manufactured articles by 14 million euros. The biggest increase occurred in the exports of agricultural products and food preparations (up by 27 million euros), transport equipment (up by 25 million euros), and mechanical appliances (up by 11 million euros). The share of goods of Estonian origin in exports fell by two percentage points compared with April 2022 and was 68% of total exports in April this year.

Estonia’s top export partner in April was Finland (15% of total exports), followed by Latvia (13%) and Sweden (9%). The main commodities exported were electrical equipment (incl. static converters) to Finland, mineral products (incl. natural gas) to Latvia, and electrical equipment (incl. communication equipment) to Sweden. The biggest decline was registered in exports to the United States, Guatemala and Sweden. There were decreased exports of electrical equipment (incl. communication equipment) to the USA, lower exports of mineral products (incl. light oils) to Guatemala, and reduced exports of base metals and articles of base metal (incl. iron and steel structures) to Sweden. The greatest rise occurred in exports to Turkey, Singapore and the Netherlands. There were greater exports of base metals and articles of base metal (incl. iron and steel waste) to Turkey, and increased dispatches of mineral products (incl. various mineral oils) to Singapore and the Netherlands.

The main commodities imported to Estonia in April were electrical equipment, transport equipment, and agricultural products and food preparations. The biggest fall was recorded in the imports of mineral products (down by 232 million euros). The imports of base metals and articles of base metal decreased by 58 million euros, and the imports of wood and articles of wood by 50 million euros. The biggest increases were recorded in the imports of agricultural products and food preparations, and transport equipment (both up by 23 million euros), followed by the imports of electrical equipment (up by 19 million euros).

In April, the top partner countries for Estonia’s imports of goods were Finland (15% of Estonia’s total imports), Germany (11%), Latvia (10%) and Lithuania (10%). The main commodities imported were mineral products (incl. natural gas) from Finland and Latvia, transport equipment (incl. motor cars) from Germany, and mineral products (incl. mineral oils) from Lithuania. The biggest fall occurred in imports from Russia, Lithuania and Finland due to lower imports of mineral products. There were decreased imports of mineral oils from Russia and Lithuania, and fewer imports of electricity and light oils from Finland. There was a rise in imports from Denmark, the USA and Czechia. Year on year, there were bigger imports of mechanical appliances and electrical equipment (incl. engine parts and wind turbines) from Denmark, greater imports of electrical equipment (incl. smart phones) from the USA, and increased imports of transport equipment (incl. motor cars) from Czechia.

(Source: https://www.stat.ee/en/news/trade-deficit-narrowed-april)