Jane Leppmets, foreign trade analyst at Statistics Estonia, said that the changes in intra-EU trade this May were marginal, with exports up 3 percent and imports down 1 percent, according to a press release.

"In extra-EU trade, exports of goods decreased by 2 percent, while imports increased by 54 percent compared with last May," she noted. "The latter was influenced by a large-scale transaction in the defense sector."

That month, exports rose the most to Singapore and declined the most to Russia.

The main commodities exported in May were electrical equipment (15 percent of Estonia's total exports), agricultural products and food preparations (13 percent), wood and articles of wood (11 percent), and transport equipment (11 percent).

Compared with May 2024, the biggest increase occurred in the exports of agricultural products and food preparations (up by €28 million, or 16 percent) and electrical equipment (up by €24 million, or 11 percent).

The biggest fall, meanwhile, was registered in the exports of mineral products (down by €23 million, or 16 percent), mechanical appliances (down by €22 million, or 15 percent), and base metals and articles of base metal (down by €22 million, or 15 percent).

Compared with May 2024, re-exports of goods increased by 5 percent this May, while exports of goods of Estonian origin remained steady on year. The share of goods of Estonian origin in total exports fell by one percentage point to reach 64 percent.

Estonia's top export partner in May was Finland (14 percent of total exports), followed by Latvia (12 percent), Lithuania (9 percent) and Sweden (9 percent).

The main commodities exported were electrical equipment to Finland and Sweden and transport equipment to Latvia and Lithuania.

Compared with May last year, the greatest increase occurred in exports to Singapore (up by €22 million), which saw an increase in mineral product exports. The biggest decrease, meanwhile, occurred in exports of goods to Russia (down by €20 million), with fewer dispatches of agricultural products and food preparations.

U.S. imports up, Finnish imports down

The main commodities imported in May were agricultural products and food preparations (14 percent of Estonia's total imports), transport equipment (13 percent) and electrical equipment (12 percent). On year, the rise in imports was mainly due to the increased arrivals of defense-related products. The greatest decrease occurred in the imports of mineral products (down by €22 million euros, or 12 percent).

This May, Estonia's top partner countries for goods imports were Finland (12 percent of Estonia's total imports), Germany (11 percent), and Latvia and Lithuania (10 percent each).

Compared with last May, the biggest rise occurred in imports of goods from the U.S. (up by €50 million), South Africa (up by €46 million) and the Netherlands (up by €39 million), while the biggest fall was recorded in imports from Finland (down by €39 million) and Poland (down by €26 million).

Click here for more detailed info from Statistics Estonia.

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