The flash estimate¹ put the Estonian current account at 9 million euros in deficit in April 2017. The surplus on the goods and services account was 21 million euros, which was 16 million euros less than a year earlier. Goods exports were down by 3% over the year and imports by 1%, meaning the deficit on the goods account widened by 22 million euros to 109 million euros. One cause of the decline in foreign trade in April 2017 was that there were two fewer working days than in the previous April. The surplus on the services account was 130 million euros, which was 6 million euros more than at the same time a year earlier. Services exports grew by 8% and imports by 9%. The net outflow on the primary and secondary income accounts increased by 10 million euros to 30 million euros.

The current and capital accounts were in surplus by a total of 5 million euros in April, meaning Estonia was again a net lender to the rest of the world.

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 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 second quarter of 2017 on 7 September 2017.

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:
Sünne Korasteljov
Eesti Pank Statistics Department
Telephone: 668 0906
Email: [email protected]