Estonia's economic growth is slower than expected

  • 2017-01-10
  • BNS/TBT Staff

TALLINN – According to a panel of experts of the Estonian Institute of Economic Research (EKI) Estonia's economic situation was more or less what was expected in December, but growth was slower than forecast at the start of the year.

The reason behind that is a slower growth of the global economy than predicted as well as continuing geopolitical problems which have reduced the demand for Estonia's trade partners. A positive thing is that private consumption has successfully developed, inflation has remained low, participation on the labor market has become more active and salaries have grown, it is written in the fourth quarter's economic overview of the Institute of Economic Research.

EKI's experts rated the present situation of Estonia's economy with 5.2 points in December, which is 0.2 points better than in September. Of the experts, 11 percent assessed the situation as being good, 84 percent as satisfactory and 5 percent as bad.

The state of investments was seen as unsatisfactory by the experts, although the assessment grew by 0.3 points to 3 points in December. The state of private consumption was assessed as being good.

When comparing Estonian economy's state in December with December 2015, the situation has somewhat improved.