Commercial Brief
Embassy of India
Tallinn
Commercial Brief
Estonia is a small Baltic country (45,228 sq km) with a population of 1.3 million which is very open to the outside world. It attracts foreign investors with its good business environment, location and cost-competitive labour. It is known for innovation and research, especially in information and communications technology (ICT). Estonia has made great strides in e-governance in which it is one of the most advanced countries in Europe. Its telecommunications sector is one of the most developed in Central and Eastern Europe. Estonia is keen to invite Indian companies to use Estonia as a transit route for trade and services with Nordic/Baltic countries.
In 2021, agriculture contributed around 2.14 percent to the GDP of Estonia, 22.8 percent came from the industry and 62.39 percent from the service sector. Estonia has a strong information and communication technology (ICT) sector, partly due to investments in developing and expanding computer and network infrastructure. The country’s historic skills in automation and cyber security in combination with innovations in connected networks and data analytics have created a booming ICT ecosystem and startups.
2. Estonia opened a resident Embassy in New Delhi in February 2012 and Embassy of India was opened on December 28, 2022 at the Cd’A a.i. level in Tallinn.
3. During the first high level visit to Estonia in August 2019, Hon’ble Vice President Shri Venkaiah Naidu attended and addressed the Estonia-India Business Forum 2019 along with hon’ble Prime Minister of Estonia. The accompanying business delegation of 18 Indian companies participated in the event. They also had B2B meetings with Estonian companies.
Bilateral Trade
4. Total bilateral trade (goods and services) was € 166 million in 2021 and was in Estonia’s favour. There are business opportunities for collaboration with Estonia in information technology, cyber security, block chain and related tech fields (where Estonia has good capabilities). Estonia has been trying to attract Indian IT companies to set up their data centres in Estonia. Indian companies are beginning to engage with Estonian companies, given the latter's positioning as a gateway to EU, its prowess in cyber security and block chain. Another area which offers potential for collaboration is in green-tech including green-hydrogen.
Bilateral Trade in Goods
(In EUR million)
Year |
2017 |
2018 |
2019 |
2020 |
2021 |
2022 |
India's Exports to Estonia |
32.87 |
31.87 |
45.61 |
30.35 |
41.00 |
86.24 |
India´s Imports from Estonia |
57.75 |
86.44 |
54.19 |
65.23 |
97.80 |
106.46 |
Total bilateral trade |
90.62 |
118.31 |
99.80 |
95.58 |
138.80 |
192.70 |
Source: Statistics Estonia
5. Bilateral trade in goods in 2021 was € 138.80 million and greatly in Estonia’s favor. India was the 26th largest export partner of Estonia in 2021. Bilateral trade in goods in 2022 upto October is € 192.70 million.
Major items of export from India to Estonia in 2022 include Refined petroleum product (43.3%), Metal product (17.75%), Machinery & Mechanical equipment (10.36%), Chemical product (8.67%), Textiles & textile product (2.78%), Plastic & plastic product (2.87%), Stone, plaster, Cement & similar material (1.17%), Herbal product (0.46%) etc.
Major items of import by India in 2022 include Oil and other product from coal tar (36.70%), Wood pulp (28.10%), Wood and wood products (12.88%), Machinery & Mechanical equipment (9.43%), Metal product (6.36%), Optical measuring precision (2.2%), Means of transport (1.51%), Cheese & curd (0.76%), Furniture (0.39%), Chemical product (0.55%) etc.
Bilateral Trade in Services
(In EUR million)
Year |
2017 |
2018 |
2019 |
2020 |
2021 |
2022 (upto September) |
India’s imports from Estonia |
10.0 |
8.4 |
14.6 |
7.7 |
15.60 |
13.40 |
India’s exports to Estonia |
7.7 |
8.9 |
9.4 |
8.1 |
11.80 |
15.50 |
Total |
17.7 |
17.3 |
24.0 |
15.8 |
27.40 |
28.90 |
Source: Statistics Estonia
Total Global Trade
6. In 2021, top exports of Estonia were oils and other products of coal tar (€1.62B), communication equipment (€1.51B), refined petroleum products (€661M), cars (€512M), and prefabricated buildings (€508M). The top export destinations of Estonia were Finland (€2.62B), Latvia (€1.82B), United States of America (€1.68B), Sweden (€1.65B), and Germany (€1.13B).
7. In 2021, top imports to Estonia were oils and other products of coal tar (€1.06B), refined petroleum products (€992M), communication equipment (€695M) and electricity(€664M). The top countries for imports were Finland(€2.8B), Russia (€2.1B), Germany (€2.03B), Lithuania (€1.82B) and Latvia (€1.79B).
Indian Investment in Estonia
8. There is limited Indian investment in Estonia. Reliance Industrial Investments and
Holdings Ltd. (RIIHL), a wholly-owned unit of Reliance Industries, has set up a company in Estonia called Jio Estonia OÜ in November 2018. Indian FDI in Estonia stands at € 6.2 million (source: Stat Estonia).
