The Estonian economy advanced 4.5 percent year-on-year in the first quarter of 2019, following an upwardly revised 4.3 percent growth in the previous period. It was the highest annual growth rate since the last quarter 2017, amid a strong rise in government spending (5.4% vs 2.2% in Q4). Also, net exports contributed positively to the GDP growth, as exports grew by 4.6 percent (vs 5.9%), while imports rose at a softer 3.8 percent (vs 6.5%). Meantime, both fixed investment (17.1% vs 17.7%) and private consumption (2.8% vs 5.5%) continued to increase. On the production side, the main contributors to economic growth were information and communication; professional, scientific & technical activities; information & communication; wholesale and retail trade, agriculture, forestry, and fishing, and transportation & storage. On a seasonally adjusted quarterly basis, the GDP went up by 0.5 percent in the first quarter, slowing from a downwardly revised 2.1 percent growth in fourth quarter. GDP Annual Growth Rate in Estonia averaged 4.26 percent from 1996 until 2019, reaching an all time high of 13.20 percent in the fourth quarter of 1997 and a record low of -19.30 percent in the third quarter of 2009.
GDP Annual Growth Rate in Estonia is expected to be 3.00 percent by the end of this quarter, according to Trading Economics global macro models and analysts expectations. Looking forward, we estimate GDP Annual Growth Rate in Estonia to stand at 1.50 in 12 months time. In the long-term, the Estonia GDP Annual Growth Rate is projected to trend around 2.80 percent in 2020, according to our econometric models.