The flash estimate¹ put the Estonian current account at 55 million euros in surplus in January 2015. Exports of both goods and services were up on a year earlier, but import volumes were smaller than in January 2014. The smallest deficit on the goods account in recent years and an increased surplus in services turned the current account balance to surplus.

The total balance of the current and capital accounts was also positive. This means that the Estonian economy was a net lender to the rest of the world at the start of this year, so  all the economic sectors of the economy taken together invested more resources abroad than they received from there.

Monthly balance of payments

Eesti Pank is publishing the flash estimate of the balance of payments monthly for the last month but one. From January 2015 Eesti Pank is accompanying the publication of the flash estimate with a short statistical comment. The statistics on the first quarter of 2015 will be published with a comment on 9 June.   

 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 flash estimate makes maximum use of the data available for the month reported, including administrative data sources and reports on international payments, it remains 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.

Additional information:
Sünne Korasteljov
Eesti Pank Statistics Department
Telephone: +372 668 0906
Email: [email protected]