Estonia's trade deficit narrowed sharply to EUR 119 million in January 2019 from EUR 218 million in the same month last year. Imports increased 2 percent to EUR 1.28 billion, mainly boosted by purchases of mineral products (20 pct), raw materials (11 pct), rubber & plastic (6 pct), and wood and articles of wood (2 pct). Imports rose mostly from Lithuania (48 percent), Sweden (8 pct), and Latvia (3 pct). Exports went up at a faster 12 percent to EUR 1.16 billion, led by sales of mineral products (31 pct), mechanical appliances (24 pct), wood and articles woods (17 pct), and electrical equipment (15 pct). Among major trading partners, exports grew the most to Singapore (6,081.4 pct), the US (203.4 pct), Denmark (51 pct), Latvia (16 pct), Finland (9 pct). Balance of Trade in Estonia averaged -119.47 EUR Million from 1993 until 2019, reaching an all time high of 16.52 EUR Million in February of 2010 and a record low of -412.18 EUR Million in January of 2017.
Balance of Trade in Estonia is expected to be -190.00 EUR Million by the end of this quarter, according to Trading Economics global macro models and analysts expectations. Looking forward, we estimate Balance of Trade in Estonia to stand at -170.00 in 12 months time. In the long-term, the Estonia Balance of Trade is projected to trend around -70.00 EUR Million in 2020, according to our econometric models.