Global trade grew in the first half of this year despite the uncertainty caused by protectionist tariffs. This did not however lead to increased demand from Estonia’s trading partners. Exports revived in many sectors and exporters are finding new markets. Exports continued to grow in the second quarter, but less vigorously than at the start of the year. Data from the balance of payments show that the turnover of both exports and imports of goods and services increased by 6% in the second quarter.

Demand for Estonian goods and services improved in the first half of the year in the euro area and beyond it. Exports of goods grew in most of the major groups of goods and most destination countries in the second quarter. The main target markets where Estonian exports grew most were Poland and Lithuania, while there was also some growth in the German market. A positive sign is that exporters are finding new markets for their goods, with sales increasing in France for example, and the set of important target markets has expanded. These export flows are principally replacing the exports that previously went to the Nordic countries, as demand continues to decline in the markets of Finland, Sweden and Norway. The groups of goods that made the biggest contribution to the growth were machinery and equipment, wood and wood products, and processed food products.

Stable growth in exports of services continues to give support to the economy and exports of services were 8% more in the second quarter than a year earlier. This was led by two major groups of services, as the turnover of exports of telecommunications and computer services increased by 14% and that of exports of business services by 10%. The turnover of exports of travel services increased by 11% during the tourism season in spring and summer but exports of transport services declined further, largely because of a drop in road transport of goods.

The recovery of manufacturing and the economy as a whole increased the need for inputs and raw materials and so boosted imports, and the turnover of imports of goods consequently increased by 3.2%. The biggest contributions to this came from imports of machinery and equipment and of electronics. Goods imports were also affected in the first half of the year by one-off purchases of capital goods for national defence. The turnover of imports of services also grew and was up 11% on the year.

The balance of payments showed the current account to be 52 million euros in surplus in the second quarter of 2025, or 0.5% of GDP. The surplus arose because the deficit on the goods account was smaller than it was a year earlier, and the surplus on the services account was larger than a year earlier and than in the previous quarter.

Companies consider that export orders are in a better place than at the start of the year, but their assessments remain pessimistic. Estimates by companies of their own competitiveness changed notably during the summer though, as they felt that there had been improvement in markets outside the European Union.

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

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