Estonia's trade deficit narrowed to EUR 177 million in March 2019 from EUR 199.2 million in the same month last year. Imports increased 5 percent to EUR 1.41 billion, mainly boosted by purchases of metal and articles of base metal (16 pct); raw materials and products of chemical industry (11 pct); transport equipment (10 pct), and textiles and textile articles (9 pct). Imports rose mostly from Finland (19 pct); Latvia (17 pct), and Sweden (14 pct). Exports went up at a faster 8 percent to EUR 1.23 billion, led by base metals and articles of base metal (28 pct); agricultural products and food preparations (15 pct), and mineral products (8 pct). Among major trading partners, exports grew the most to the US (142.2 pct); Belgium (125.7 pct), and Denmark (71 pct). Considering the first three months of the year, the trade balance recorded a deficit of EUR 392 billion, compared with a deficit of EUR 500 billion in the same period of 2018. 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.