Economy of Estonia
Economy of Estonia
Currency
1 Estonian kroon = 100
sent
Fiscal year
Calendar year
Trade
organizations
EU and WTO
Statistics [1]
GDP (PPP)
ranking
56th (2007) [2]
GDP (PPP)
$29.35bn (2007 est.)
GDP growth
-3.6% (2008 est.)[1]
GDP per capita $21,800 (2007 est.)
GDP by sector agriculture (3%), in-
dustry (29%), services
(68%) (2007 est.)
Inflation
10.4% (2008)[2]
Pop below
poverty line
5% (2003)
Labour force
688,000 (2007 est.)
Labour force
by occupation
services (69%), industry
(20%), agriculture
(11%) (1999 est.)
Unemployment 5.5% (2008)[3]
Main
industries
engineering, electron-
ics, wood and wood
products, textiles; in-
formation technology,
telecommunications
Trading partners [3]
Exports
$11.31 billion (2007)
Main partners Finland 18.2%, Sweden
12.2%, Latvia 9.1%,
Russia 7.9%, United
States 6.6%, Germany
5%, Lithuania 4.8%,
Gibraltar 4.5% (2006)
Imports
$14.71 billion (2007)
Main partners Finland 18.4%, Russia
12.9%, Germany 12.3%,
Sweden 9.2%, Lithuania
6.4%, Latvia 5.8%
(2006)
Public finances [4]
Public debt
3.8% of GDP (2007)
Revenues
$7.671bn (2007 est.)
Expenses
$7.015bn (2007 est.)
Economic aid
recipient: $135 million
(2004)
Estonia is a member of the European Union
and a developed market economy.
Before the Second World War Estonia’s
economy was based on agriculture, but there
was a significant knowledge sector (with
Tartu known for scientific contributions) and
growing industrial sector, similar to Finland.
Products such as butter, milk and cheese
were widely known on the western European
markets. Main markets were Germany and
United Kingdom, and only 3% of all com-
merce was with the neighbouring USSR. The
USSR’s forcible annexation of Estonia in
1940 and the ensuing Nazi and Soviet de-
struction during World War II crippled the
Estonian economy. Post-war Sovietization of
life continued with the integration of Esto-
nia’s economy and industry into the USSR’s
centrally planned structure. Estonia and Fin-
land had about the same GDP per capita be-
fore Estonia became a socialist economy