12.12.2022 | Estonia

Exports of services at record highs

Text Mark Taylor
Photo Nubelson Fernandes / Unsplash

According to Statistics Estonia and Eesti Pank, in the third quarter of 2022, Estonia’s exports of services grew by 32 per cent and imports by 33 per cent year on year. Estonia’s exports of services totalled 2.8 billion euros and imports 2.2 billion euros. The balance of foreign trade in services was in surplus by 568 million euros, which is 129 million euros more than in the same quarter last year.

“In the third quarter, there was increased trade in services with almost all our main foreign trade partners. The exceptions were Germany, from where Estonia imported fewer services, and Russia, due to the fall in both the supply and purchases of services for the second quarter running,” said Jane Leppmets, an analyst at Statistics Estonia.

In the third quarter of 2022, the most exported services were other business services (incl. advertising services, business and management consulting and public relations services), transport services (incl. road and sea freight transport), and telecommunications, computer and information services. Compared with the third quarter of 2021, the biggest increase occurred in the exports of travel services (up by 218 million euros), followed by exports of other business services (up by 206 million euros) and exports of telecommunications, computer and information services (up by 143 million euros).

In the third quarter of 2022, Finland was the top partner country for exports of services. The main services supplied to Finland were travel services and transport services. Finland was followed by Sweden, with transport services being the biggest export item, and the USA, where Estonian enterprises exported primarily telecommunications, computer and information services. The biggest increase occurred in exports to Finland which grew by 150 million euros, mainly due to greater exports of travel services.

The main services imported to Estonia in the third quarter were transport services (incl. sea freight transport), other business services (incl. advertising services, business and management consulting and public relations services) and travel services (incl. other business travel). Compared with the third quarter of 2021, the biggest rise occurred in the imports of the same three groups. The imports of other business services grew by 302 million euros, the imports of travel services by 174 million euros and the imports of transport services by 100 million euros. The biggest decline was recorded in the imports of telecommunications, computer and information services (down by 43 million euros).

In the third quarter, the top partner country for imports of services was Finland, which mainly supplied transport and travel services to Estonia. Finland was followed by Germany and Latvia. In the third quarter, the biggest rise was recorded in imports of services from Luxembourg (up by 63 million euros), Finland (up by 56 million euros) and Ireland (up by 43 million euros).