The flash estimate¹ put the Estonian current account at 6 million euros in surplus in October 2019. The surplus on the goods and services account increased by 14 million euros from a year earlier to 64 million euros. Goods exports and imports were about the same as a year earlier, but the deficit on the goods account narrowed by 4 million euros to 108 million euros. The surplus on the services account was 172 million euros, up 10 million euros over the year. Services exports grew by 3% over the year and imports by 1%. The outflow of investment income and current transfers increased in October, meaning the negative balance of primary and secondary income rose to 58 million euros.

Net lending and borrowing, or the net total of the current and capital accounts, saw a surplus of 45 million euros in October. This meant that the Estonian economy is again a net lender to other countries, as it has been for some years now, so the country as a whole is investing more financial assets abroad than it is receiving from there.

¹ The quarterly balance of payments is compiled from a combined system of representative primary data sources, including surveys of companies, while the monthly balance of payments draws from a considerably smaller database. Although the monthly report uses as much of the data available for the month reported as possible, including administrative data sources and reports on international payments, it is subjective to a certain degree, which is why it is called an estimate. Once the quarterly balance of payments is released, the monthly balances of payments are adjusted accordingly. For more on the principles used in compiling the flash estimate, see http://statistika.eestipank.ee/failid/mbo/kiir_mb_eng.html.

Eesti Pank publishes the flash estimate of the balance of payments monthly for the last month but one. Eesti Pank will publish the balance of payments for the fourth quarter of 2019 on 10 March 2020.

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.

Additional information:
Eesti Pank Statistics Department