Compared to spring 2008, the external environment has become more fickle in the summer. While at the beginning of the year Estonia's main trading partners enjoyed considerably rapid growth, it slowed remarkably in the second quarter with the euro-area economy even shrinking by 0.2 per cent. More...

In September, the CPI basket became 0.6% more expensive and year-on-year price growth dropped to 10.5%. Since the excise duty on tobacco was raised in summer, the price of tobacco products grew 22%, playing a major role in the September price increase and accounting for nearly two-thirds of the month-on-month price hike. More...

How does the global financial market crisis affect the European economy and Estonia?
The financial crisis, which originated in the USA in 2007 and has also spread to Europe, is affecting the general economic growth in the EU. The recent forecasts of the European Commission expect this year's euro-area growth rate to be 1.3%, which is 0.4 pp less than stated in the spring forecast. More...