About Estonia

  • Capital: Tallinn
  • Total Area: 45,228 sq km
  • Population: 1,258,545
  • Languages: Estonian (official) 68.5%, Russian 24.8%, Ukrainian 0,6%, other 1.2%, unknown 0.1% (2011 census)
  • Religions: Lutheran 9.9%, Orthodox 16.2%, other Christian (including Methodist, Seventh-Day Adventist, Roman Catholic, Pentecostal) 2.2%, other 0.9%, none 54.1%, unspecified 16.7% (2011 est.)
  • Government Type: parliamentary republic
  • Currency: EUR
  • Natural resources: oil shale, peat, rare earth elements, phosphorite, clay, limestone, sand, dolomite, arable land, sea mud
Economy
Estonia, a member of the EU since 2004 and the euro zone since 2011, has a modern market-based economy and one of the higher per capita income levels in Central Europe and the Baltic region, but its economy is highly dependent on trade, leaving it vulnerable to external shocks. Estonia’s successive governments have pursued a free market, pro-business economic agenda, and sound fiscal policies that have resulted in balanced budgets and low public debt.
 
The economy benefits from strong electronics and telecommunications sectors and strong trade ties with Finland, Sweden, Germany, and Russia. After two years of robust recovery in 2011 and 2012, the Estonian economy faltered in 2013 with only 1.6% GDP growth, mainly due to a continuing recession in much of the EU. GDP growth in 2014 picked up to 2.9% but dropped below 2% in 2015-16 due to lower demand in key Scandinavian and Russian export markets. In 2016, the government implemented modest increases in fiscal spending, which may contribute to GDP growth in 2017
  • GDP PPP: $29.500bn (2016)
  • PPP rank: 64th (2016)
  • GDP growth: 1.7% (2016)
  • GDP per capita: $29,500 (2016)
  • GDP by sector agriculture: (3.5%), industry (28.1%), services (68.4%) (2016)
  • Inflation (CPI): 0.1% (2016)
  • Unemployment 6.8 % (2016)
  • Main industries: food, engineering, electronics, wood and wood products, textiles; information technology, telecommunications
GDP consumption of components

GDP – composition, by end use:

household consumption: 51.2%
government consumption: 20.9%
investment in fixed capital: 24.3%
investment in inventories: -1%
exports of goods and services: 79.2%
imports of goods and services: -74.6% (2016 est.)
 
GDP – composition, by sector of origin:
 
agriculture: 3.5%
industry: 28.1%
services: 68.4% (2016 est.)
Foreign trade

The economy benefits from strong electronics and telecommunications sectors and strong trade ties with Finland, Sweden, Germany, and Russia. After two years of robust recovery in 2011 and 2012, the Estonian economy faltered in 2013 with only 1.6% GDP growth, mainly due to a continuing recession in much of the EU. GDP growth in 2014 picked up to 2.9% but dropped below 2% in 2015-16 due to lower demand in key Scandinavian and Russian export markets. In 2016, the government implemented modest increases in fiscal spending, which may contribute to GDP growth in 2017.
Export and import by country 

Exports – commodities: machinery and electrical equipment 30%, food products and beverages 9%, mineral fuels 6%, wood and wood products 14%, articles of base metals 7%, furniture and bedding 11%, vehicles and parts 3%, chemicals 4% (2016)

Exports – partners: Sweden 18.8%, Finland 16%, Latvia 10.4%, Russia 6.7%, Lithuania 5.9%, Germany 5.2%, Norway 4.1% (2015)

Imports – commodities: machinery and electrical equipment 28%, mineral fuels 11%, food and food products 10%, vehicles 9%, chemical products 8%, metals 8% (2015 est.)

Imports – partners: Finland 14.5%, Germany 11%, Lithuania 9%, Sweden 8.5%, Latvia 8.3%, Poland 7.4%, Russia 6.1%, Netherlands 5.5%, China 4.8% (2015)