Estonia's trade deficit narrowed to EUR 104.7 million in May 2019 from EUR 167 million in the same month last year. This was the smallest trade gap since February, as exports rose more than imports. Imports increased 3 percent to EUR 1.44 billion, mainly boosted by purchases of mechanical machinery (15 pct); metal & metal products (13 pct); agricultural products & food (10pct) and raw materials & products of chemical industry (19 pct). Imports rose mostly from Finland (1 pct); Germany (5 pct); Sweden (11 pct) and Lithuania (11 pct). Exports went up 8 percent to EUR 1.34 billion, led by electrical equipment (1 pct); minerals products (5 pct); miscellaneous manufactured articles (27 pct) and mechanical appliances (22 pct). Among major trading partners, exports grew mainly to Finland (6 pct); Sweden (1 pct) and the US (28 pct). Balance of Trade in Estonia averaged -119.75 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 -160.00 in 12 months time. In the long-term, the Estonia Balance of Trade is projected to trend around -110.00 EUR Million in 2020, according to our econometric models.