12 March (BNS)

In January the export of goods from Estonia at current prices increased by 15% and imports grew by a tenth compared to the same month last year, data of the national statistics office show. Estonian exports totalled 942 million euros and imports to Estonia 992 million euros at current prices. Due to the faster growth in exports than in imports, the trade deficit decreased to 50 million euros from 79 million euros in January 2011.

Machinery and equipment accounted for 28% of total exports, followed by mineral products including motor fuel, shale oil and electricity (16%) and metals and metal products (10%).

The growth of Estonia's total exports was mostly influenced by the export of machinery and equipment which increased by 19 % in annual comparison. A significant contribution was made by metals and metal products whose export grew by 52% year-on-year. A slight drop was recorded in the export of textile products which decreased by 8%.

The top destination countries of Estonia's exports were Sweden (15% of the total), Finland (14%) and Russia (8%). Export growth was mostly influenced by the 64% surge in export to the Netherlands and the 114% increase in export to the United States. Export to Sweden at the same time decreased by 11% compared to January 2011. Electrical equipment, wood and wooden products and various manufactured goods topped exports to Sweden and Finland while mechanical equipment was the main commodity exported to Russia.

In imports, Germany led with 14% of the total. Next came Finland with 13% and Sweden with 9%. Imports increased the most from the countries with the biggest share in Estonia's total imports – Germany and Finland (growth rate 76% and 45%, respectively). Import from Russia decreased by 27%.