Estonia - Foreign trade

During the Soviet era, Estonia's foreign trade was characterized by large net imports, 80–85% of which came from other Soviet republics, the destination of 95% of Estonian exports. Beginning in 1992, the value of exports began to surpass that of imports, and the share of trade with other former Soviet republics diminished. In 2000, Estonia's exports totaled $3.8 billion, 69% of which went to EU nations.

The most important export industry in Estonia is electronics(24.5%). Cork, wood, and their manufactures account for the second-largest consolidated group of commodity exports(11.9%). Other important exports include apparel (5.3%), textiles (4.4%), and furniture (3.8%).

In 2000 Estonia's imports were distributed among the following categories:

Consumer goods	12.7%
Food	8.9%
Fuels	7.2%
Industrial supplies	31.0%
Machinery	31.5%
Transportation	8.5%
Other	0.2%

Principal trading partners in 2000 (in millions of US dollars) were as follows:

COUNTRY	EXPORTS	IMPORTS	BALANCE
Finland	1,033	1,205	-172
Sweden	663	439	224
Germany	294	446	-152
Latvia	275	123	152
Russia	260	713	-453
Netherlands	168	104	64
United Kingdom	150	110	40
Lithuania	120	74	46
Denmark	111	111	0
United States	70	121	-51
Ukraine	69	46	23
Japan	13	281	-268