Global trade rallied at the end of last year and demand from Estonia’s trading partners for Estonian products and services increased. This boosted exports and imports of goods and services and the turnover of foreign trade increased by 5.2% in the fourth quarter, with exports gaining 6.6% and imports 3.8%.

There was evidence throughout last year that exporters were finding new markets for their goods and the set of target markets for exports was expanding. The growth in exports of goods was also broadly based in the fourth quarter. The fastest growth was in exports of goods to countries in central Europe with Poland and Germany seeing the largest increases, while exports to Lithuania also grew. The end of the year was also better than the first half of it in Estonia’s traditional destinations of Sweden and Norway, as the turnover of exports to those countries increased. The recovery in the Finnish market remains slow. Exports of goods to the USA were less in the fourth quarter than a year earlier, mainly because of barriers to trade. Machinery and equipment and food industry products were the product groups that contributed the most to the growth in the turnover of exports in the fourth quarter. Balance of payments data show the value of exports of goods measured in euros increased by 6.6% in the fourth quarter.

The growth in exports of services gained support from the better performance of total foreign trade in the fourth quarter and stood at 8.1%. Estonia maintains a strong competitive position in services exports and has continued to increase its market share in foreign markets. Exports of business services grew by a substantial 24%, while exports of travel services also contributed strongly with growth of 8%. Exports of transport services declined throughout the year though and continued to do so in the fourth quarter. This was largely because of a drop in the transport of goods by rail and road, while the turnover of exports of maritime transport have been growing since the second quarter of last year.

The growth in manufacturing output and the revival in the economy meant that imports of goods also increased in the final quarter of the year. Goods imports have been affected this year by one-off purchases of capital goods for national defence. The turnover of imports of goods was 3.8% more in the fourth quarter than a year earlier, and the biggest contributors to the growth were imports of machinery and equipment, and of electronics. The volume of imports of services also grew and was up 5.9% on the year. Business services are the largest share of services imports, making up slightly more than one third, while transport and ICT services each account for one fifth. The balance of payments showed the current account to be 215 million euros in surplus in the fourth quarter of 2025, or 2% of GDP. The current account improved because the deficit on the goods account was smaller than it was a year earlier, while the surplus on the services account was larger than a year earlier.

The risks to the global economy were in balance at the start of the year, and this led to a major improvement in the assessments by companies of their own competitiveness in the European market and further afield. The outbreak of another war increased uncertainty though, primarily because of the rise in fuel prices, which are an important factor in the cost of production inputs for companies.

See also the statistical release on the balance of payments and the international investment position for the fourth quarter of 2025.

Additional information:
Hanna Jürgenson
Communications officer
Eesti Pank
Tel 5692 0930
Press enquiries: [email protected]