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Estonia Economy 1996
Bolstered by a widespread national desire to reintegrate into Western
Europe, the Estonian government has pursued an ambitious program of market
reforms and stabilization measures, which is rapidly transforming the
economy. Three years after independence - and two years after the
introduction of the kroon - Estonians are beginning to reap tangible
benefits; inflation, though still high, was brought down to about 2% per
month in second half 1994; production declines have bottomed out with
estimated growth of 4% in 1994; and living standards are rising. Economic
restructuring has been dramatic. By 1994 the service sector accounted for
over 55% of GDP, while the once-dominant heavy industrial sector continues
to shrink. The private sector is growing rapidly; the share of the state
enterprises in the economy has steadily declined and by late 1994 accounted
for only about 40% of GDP. Estonia's foreign trade has shifted rapidly from
East to West; the Western industrialized countries now account for
two-thirds of foreign trade.
GDP - purchasing power parity - $10.4 billion (1994 estimate as extrapolated
from World Bank estimate for 1992)
-
National product real growth rate:
-
National product per capita:
-
Inflation rate (consumer prices):
3.3% per month (1994 average)
about 2% in 1994 (official estimate but large number of underemployed
workers)
$639 million, including capital expenditures of $NA (1993 est.)
$1.65 billion (f.o.b., 1994)
textile 14%, food products 11%, vehicles 11%, metals 11% (1993)
Russia, Finland, Sweden, Germany
$1 billion (c.i.f., 1994)
machinery 18%, fuels 15%, vehicles 14%, textiles 10% (1993)
Finland, Russia, Germany, Sweden
$650 million (end of 1991)
oil shale, shipbuilding, phosphates, electric motors, excavators, cement,
furniture, clothing, textiles, paper, shoes, apparel
accounts for 10% of GDP; employs 20% of work force; very efficient by Soviet
standards; net exports of meat, fish, dairy products, and potatoes; imports
of feedgrains for livestock; fruits and vegetables
transshipment point for illicit drugs from Central and Southwest Asia and
Latin America to Western Europe; very limited illicit opium producer; mostly
for domestic consumption
US commitments, including Ex-Im (1992), $10 million
1 Estonian kroon (EEK) = 100 cents (introduced in August 1992)
kroons (EEK) per US$1 - 12.25 (January 1995); note - kroons are tied to the
German Deutschmark at a fixed rate of 8 to 1
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