Business Opportunities in Estonia

Since regaining independence in 1991, Estonia has transformed itself into a highly motivated and dynamic center of commerce. The business environment has blossomed, thanks mainly to the stability of the political situation and the sound economic policies of the government. Estonia achieved its overriding foreign policy goals of the past decade when it acceded to both NATO and the European Union in the spring of 2004 Additionally Estonia formally joined the OECD on December 9, 2010 and adopted the euro as its official currency on January 1, 2011. Estonia is the first Baltic state to join the OECD and euro zone. After enjoying 8 percent average annual GDP growth since 2000, the economy started to show signs of cooling in 2007. The global financial and economic crisis caused Estonian GDP to shrink 5.1 percent in 2008 and by 13.9 percent in 2009. In 2010 the Estonian economy recovered from the crisis faster than predicted, mainly thanks to increased exports and the strong economic growth of its primary trading partners Finland and Sweden. According to official flash estimates the Estonian GDP grew 3.1 percent in 2010. The Estonian economy is expected to grow by over 4 percent in 2011 (compared to 1.7 percent in EU27). Estonia's economic recovery has been achieved mainly through growth in productivity. This has left unemployment still relatively high, at 13.6 percent for the fourth quarter of 2010, although this is well below its peak of 19.8 percent in the first quarter of 2010.