The Estonian economy is still sluggish, investor confidence is on a downward trend, and trading activity on the Nasdaq Tallinn Stock Exchange was nothing special last year, but 2025 was a record year for bonds, said Tallinn Stock Exchange CEO Kaarel Ots.

"There was one public share offering on the Tallinn exchange, but the main focus was definitely on bonds. I think we have never had so many companies raising capital at once. Nearly €300 million was raised," he said.

Ots described 2025 as record-breaking: "Never before in history have so many companies raised capital in such volume. Across the Baltics, it's about two billion."

At the same time, the Tallinn stock index rose sharply.

"The Tallinn stock index outperformed the world's most-watched index, the S&P 500. Our index grew by 18 percent in 2025," said the head of the Tallinn exchange.

He added that the index had been flat for the past three years, so there was clearly an expectation that stock prices would start to move upward.

"And that expectation definitely exists for 2026 as well," Ots said.

Critics say that getting the exchange moving again would require government initiative. Ots said talk about "getting things moving" is not accurate, since both the economy and the stock exchange are cyclical.

"When better times come to the economy, when we finally see broad-based economic growth — I can't even remember the last time that could be said — then believe me, the stock exchange will reflect that very quickly. And the other thing the state can focus on is classical financial literacy and developing that," said the stock exchange head.

Stock exchange trading activity depends on how confident people feel. Ots did not want to make forecasts for 2026. Looking at the global picture, the best investment has been gold, which he said rose by around 65 percent, and does not suggest good things.

"Gold is usually invested in to protect against inflation. That shows investors' fear — that inflation may continue, but the economy won't grow, and that is why record amounts of money have been put into gold. I cannot predict what the new year will bring, but these moves show that there is clear uncertainty," Ots concluded.

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