Business Relations
Poland is Estonia’s biggest and most important foreign trade partner among Central European countries, ranking 7th-8th among all of Estonia’s foreign trade partners for several years. For the last three years Polish-Estonian trade volume has amounted to 1.2-1.3 billion euros, trade balance has been negative.
In 2017, trade turnover between the two countries increased to 1.34 billion euros (yearly growth was +8.3%), which was 4.9% of total trade turnover. Poland ranked 8th among all Estonia’s trade partners.
In 2017, Poland was 12th largest export market for Estonia in total volume of 277 million euros (yearly growth of 7%). Poland ranked 6th among all Estonia’s import partners in 2017, with a volume of 1.1 billion euros (growth of 8.6%).
Trade
Estonia-Poland trade 2012-2017 (million euros)
| Year | Export | Import | Turnover | Balance |
| 2012 | 176.5 | 882.0 | 1058.5 | -705.5 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2013 | 207.4 | 1084.5 | 1291.9 | -877.1 |
| 2014 | 233.3 | 1045.5 | 1278.8 | -812.2 |
| 2015 | 267.7 | 974.0 | 1241.7 | -706.3 |
| 2016 | 257.8 | 980.1 | 1237.9 | -722.4 |
| 2017 | 273.9 | 1068.2 | 1342.1 | -794.3 |
Primary articles of export in 2017:
- Machinery and mechanical appliances – 28%
- Wood and articles of wood – 14%
- Base metals and articles of base metal – 11%
- Paper and articles thereof – 9%
Primary articles of import in 2017:
- Vehicles, transport equipment – 17%
- Machinery and mechanical appliances – 16%
- Products of the chemical industries – 14%
- Base metals and articles of base metal – 12%
All economic figures originate from the Statistical Office of Estonia.
Investments
As of 31 December 2017, Polish direct investments in Estonia totalled 81.5 million euros (0.4% of total foreign investments made to Estonia, yearly growth 21 million euros). Investments mostly went to the wholesale and retail trade (53%) the manufacturing industry (22%).
Estonia’s direct investment position in Poland was 129.5 million euros (2% of total foreign investments, yearly growth 10 million euros). The primary sectors for investments were the manufacturing industry (62%), wholesale and retail trade sector (19%) and finance and insurance activities (13%).
Tourism
The number of Polish tourists visiting Estonia has increased year by year. While in 2014, 25.7 thousand Polish tourists were accommodated in Estonia, in 2017 there were already 29.5 thousand tourists accommodated in Estonian accommodation establishments.
Popular travel destinations among Polish tourists in addition to Tallinn are Tartu county, Pärnu county and Ida-Virumaa.
Visits to Poland by Estonian residents have also grown, from 212 000 in 2014 to 228 000 in 2017.