• Tourists visiting Estonia spent an estimated 440 million euros
• The share of Finnish tourists was the smallest of the past decade
• The number of tourists visiting from Asia has stopped rising
• Visitors from Estonia to foreign countries spent an estimated 290 million euros abroad in the third quarter of 2018
• More than three quarters of visits were within the European Union
• Residents of Estonia travelled more and spent longer in their destinations
• Fewer people from Estonia went to Finland, but more went to the CIS

In the third quarter of 2018, residents of Estonia made 1.1 million trips abroad, which is 3% more than in the same quarter of last year. Trips within the European Union accounted for 78% of these visits, and there were 1% fewer of them than a year earlier. There were notable rises in the numbers of trips to Portugal, France, Hungary and Bulgaria, but fewer visitors went to Spain, Italy and Poland than in the third quarter of 2017. One in six visits was to Finland, though the number of them fell by 9%. Estonian residents made 27% more visits to countries in the CIS, and there were over 100,000 visits to Russia.

There were 3% more overnight visits and their average length rose to 4.2 days, which is 0.4 days longer than in the same quarter of the previous year. Same-day trips accounted for 13% of the total, and they increased in number by 8%.

Tourists from Estonia spent an estimated 290 million euros abroad, which was 20 million euros more than in the third quarter of 2017.

There were more than two million visits to Estonia by foreign residents in the third quarter of 2018, which was slightly fewer than a year earlier. The number of tourists from Finland was down 5% and they accounted for 30% of all visitors, which is the lowest level since 2008. The number of residents of other European Union countries visiting Estonia was up by 2% though, with 17% more tourists from Austria, 27% more from Portugal and 17% more from the Netherlands. There were fewer visitors from Belgium and Lithuania than previously.

There were 250,000 visits to Estonia by residents of Russia, which was unchanged over the year. The number of tourists from Asia has stopped rising and the same number came as a year earlier, and they accounted for 5% of the total number of visits.

There were 1% fewer overnight visitors to Estonia in the third quarter of 2018 than in the same quarter of 2017, and the average overnight visit was of 4.4 days. At 49%, almost half of the visits to Estonia were same-day visits, and there were 1% more of them than a year earlier.

Visitors to Estonia spent an estimated 440 million euros in the third quarter, which was 10 million euros more than in the third quarter of 2017.

Eesti Pank collects statistics on border crossings as part of its work in preparing the national balance of payments. The movement of travellers across borders has a noticeable effect on the export and import of travel services in the Estonian balance of payments, which will be published on 6 December 2018.

More detailed information can be found on the Eesti Pank website under International travel statistics.

Statistical releases are published by Eesti Pank together with statistical data. The release is independent of economic policy releases and is presented separately from them.

For further information:
Tarass Snitsarenko
Eesti Pank Statistics Department
Telephone: 668 0906
Email: [email protected]