Increased imports led to a higher trade deficit in February

In February, Estonia’s exports of goods amounted to 1.5 billion euros and imports to nearly 1.8 billion euros at current prices. The trade deficit was 309 million euros and grew by 238 million euros compared to February 2021.

Evelin Puura, leading analyst at Statistics Estonia, said that, in February, imports grew much more than exports, resulting in the biggest trade deficit ever. “The bigger trade deficit was primarily due to trade in mineral fuels, where the value of imports grew significantly while exports remained at last year’s level. Increased prices also had an impact on trade in mineral fuels. Compared to 2021, export prices grew by 22% and import prices by 25%,” added Puura.

The main commodities exported were mineral fuels and electricity, wood and articles of wood, and electrical equipment. Compared to February 2021, the biggest increase occurred in the exports of wood and articles of wood (incl. coniferous wood strips, planed timber boards), which grew by 41 million euros. The exports of agricultural products and food preparations (incl. feed wheat) grew by 36 million euros, and the exports of miscellaneous manufactured articles (incl. prefabricated wooden buildings) by 34 million euros.

The main partner country for Estonia’s exports of goods was Finland, followed by Latvia and Sweden. The main commodities exported were natural gas and parts for engines to Finland, electricity to Latvia, and prefabricated wooden buildings and communication equipment to Sweden. The biggest increase occurred in exports to Latvia, Finland and Lithuania. More electricity was exported to Latvia, there were larger dispatches of natural gas and prefabricated wooden buildings to Finland, and bigger dispatches of transport equipment to Lithuania.

(Source: https://www.stat.ee/en/node/258676)