September 16, 2023
According to Statistics Estonia and Eesti Pank, in the second quarter of 2023, Estonia’s exports of services grew by 8% and imports by 2% at current prices compared with the same quarter of 2022. Sales of services to non-residents totalled 2.9 billion euros and purchases of services from non-residents amounted to 2.2 billion euros.
Jane Leppmets, analyst at Statistics Estonia, noted that, in the second quarter of 2023, exports of services exceeded imports by 770 million euros. “The surplus of foreign trade in services has been greater than this only in the fourth quarter of 2021, when it was nearly 890 million euros. There is a continued uptrend in both exports and imports of services, and the exports of services in the second quarter this year were the highest ever,” added Leppmets.
The main services exported in the second quarter were other business services (incl. other business support services) for 911 million euros. This was followed by exports of telecommunications, computer and information services (incl. computer programming and consultancy) for 644 million euros, and exports of transport services (incl. road freight transport) for 612 million euros. Compared with the second quarter of 2022, the biggest increase occurred in the exports of other business services, telecommunications, computer and information services, and travel services. The biggest fall was registered in the exports of transport services.
Finland was the top partner country for exports of services in the second quarter, with travel services being the biggest export item. Finland was followed by Sweden, with transport services being the main type of services supplied, and Latvia, where Estonian enterprises exported primarily other business services. The biggest rise was recorded in exports of services to Latvia (up by 41 million euros), Finland (up by 35 million euros) and Germany (up by 27 million euros). Year on year, there were greater exports of other business services to Latvia, more travel services supplied to Finland, and bigger exports of telecommunications, computer and information services to Germany. The biggest fall was registered in the sales of services to non-EU countries, especially Russia (down by 44 million euros) due to decreased exports of transport services.
The main services imported to Estonia in the second quarter were other business services (incl. other business support services) for 670 million euros, transport services (incl. sea freight transport) for 590 million euros, and telecommunications, computer and information services (incl. computer programming and consultancy) for 401 million euros. Compared with the second quarter of 2022, the biggest rise occurred in the purchases of telecommunications, computer and information services, travel services, and financial services from non-residents. The imports of transport services and other business services decreased year on year.
In the second quarter of 2023, the main partner countries for imports of services were Germany, Finland and Lithuania, with transport services being the top import item. The biggest rise was recorded in imports of services from Lithuania (up by 32 million euros), Poland (up by 21 million euros), the United Arab Emirates (up by 20 million euros) and Ukraine (up by 19 million euros). Year on year, there were more purchases of telecommunications, computer and information services from Lithuania, Poland and Ukraine, and greater imports of transport services from the United Arab Emirates. The biggest decline occurred in imports of services from the United Kingdom (down by 36 million euros), due to decreased purchases of other business services.
Source: Statistics Estonia
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