TALLINN - Estonia's economy expanded a mind-boggling 12 percent from April to July, fuelled by robust domestic consumption and strong growth in exports, the Statistical Office reported on Sept. 4.
The data is based on preliminary information, and surpassed analysts' expectations. Hansapank's Maris Lauri said first-quarter statistics showed that the impact of domestic consumption has been growing from quarter to quarter, and this trend apparently continued in the second quarter.
"Although export has also been growing at a fairly fast pace, strong domestic demand brings in lots of imported goods, which weakens the foreign sector's impact on Estonia's economic growth," Pajula added.
But Estonia's economy has been white-hot, forcing the Finance Ministry to adjust its annual growth figures last month to 9.6 percent from 8.2 percent earlier this year.
Anne Karik-Uustalu, an analyst with Sampo Pank, said the growth was increasingly reliant on strong expansion in the construction and service sectors, while industrial growth figures were somewhat weaker.
Lauri predicts overall economic growth of 9.4 percent for this year, while Karik-Uustalu expects the economy to grow by up to 10 percent.
