Economy of Estonia. (0)

Economy of Estonia
The economic growth during the recent years has been very fast . The Estonian economy is diverse – industry and transport, as well as commerce and different branches of services are all equally important .  Due to the available natural resources Estonian economy largely relies on the branches related to the forest ; Estonian energy sector is based on oil shale . Finland and Sweden are the most important trade partners. The Estonian economy profits significantly from the business generated by more than 2 million tourists a year .
The important sectors of the Estonian economy are the processing , transport, warehousing and communications, commerce and estate , rental and letting, as well as business services, agriculture , construction and government , education and health care. In order to be able to import all the products and services, something must be exported, that’s why export holds such a prominent position for the Estonian economy and its growth. 
A couple of generations ago agriculture was the main occupation of the Estonians . Nowadays only about 4% of the workforce is engaged in agriculture. The 1990s was a hard time for agriculture – competition with cheap imported products became an issue, enterprises had no money for new equipment and vehicles. Although today the situation in agriculture isn’t perfect , some enterprises, including farms who use modern production methods, have cropped up. Joining the European Union has had a positive effect on Estonian agriculture as we can now sell food products to other European countries. Milk cattle, also pigs and poultry are the main farm animals raised in Estonia. Field crops include cereal crops, potatoes and vegetables. Plant products are mostly for internal use, a considerable amount of meat is imported. Some dairy products and some specific products – e.g. cultivated and wild berries, mushrooms, ecologically pure produce etc – are for export. 
The forest is among Estonia’s most important natural resources and a source of a considerable amount of raw material . Wooden construction details, wooden furniture and wooden houses are being exported. The main export destinations are Finland, Sweden, Germany , Norway and Great Britain .  Estonian cellulose and paper industries have a long history, some factories have been in operation since the mid- 19th century. Today the raw material comes from local forests as well as from Russia , Latvia and Lithuania .
The most important branch among processing industries in Estonia is timber, paper and furniture industry. Second comes the food processing industry, mostly in the form of meat and milk producing, but the production of drinks, bread and confectioneries is also substantial.
Estonians love locally produced food, considering it to be purer, of a higher quality and more tasty. Several producers hope to soon enter the EU market with their production. Estonians' favourite sweets are made by Kalev. The larger producers of beer are Saku and A’le Coq — companies with traditions more than a hundred years long.
Light industry yields a highly varied output from cotton fabrics to clothing and footwear. However , recent years have not been easy for the textile and sewing industry as it is increasingly difficult to compete with cheap producers from outside the European Union – Estonian market is also being gradually flooded by cheap goods from China, India and Turkey .
Mechanical engineering and motor vehicle industry have experienced a rapid development during the recent years, although the branch became nearly extinct in the early 1990s after the collapse of the Soviet military industry. The local business climate has been revived thanks to the opening of the plant of the international electronics company Elcoteq in 2000. Engineering products and equipment manufactured in Estonia range from cables, mobile phones and computers to security equipment for cars, laboratory equipment, different hoists and other equipment for different industries.
The economic changes of the 1990s had an especially severe effect on the chemical industry as many of the enterprises were oriented to the Soviet military industry and their products became unnecessary after Estonia regained its independence. 
The principal part of it is constituted by the export of petroleum products from Russia. Other Russian goods that have been transported through Estonia are grain and fertilizers. Another important area is passenger shipping which is directly linked to tourism . The Estonian national air company Estonian Air has also proven successful as it has managed to increase both cargo volumes and the number of passengers. A large part of freight transport is still done by road . Passenger transport is organised with buses for the most part, there are international lines to St Petersburg , Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Germany and Scandinavia. During the recent years a lot of roads have been repaired and new ones have been constructed, but a considerable number of roads are still in a fairly poor condition.
About 3.4 million tourists visit Estonia every year, the majority of them come Finland and stay for a short period . Tourists who come for a couple of days also go to the theatre and other places outside Tallinn. The number of tourists from Sweden and Germany is constantly growing . The number of tourists from more distant countries of the European Union, however, has increased most because of the much easier border crossing and an interest in the new member states. Hotels and sanatoriums in the so-called resort areas are usually packed with foreign visitors. Direct proceeds form tourism go to tourist agencies and hotels, numerous travel agencies and catering enterprises. As a sizeable part of tourists visit Estonia primarily for shopping purposes, they provide significant income to the shops as well.
There is no doubt that this is one of the fastest- developed areas in Estonia during the last decade. Quick growth has taken Estonia among the leaders in the world or in Europe as the user of some telecommunications services.  Internet and computer prices have fallen during the recent years due to vigorous competition – the first are now the lowest in Europe. This encourages people to buy computers. Estonians quite quickly took up the mobile phones. The popularity of the mobile phones has caused a decline of land line phones. Home usage of the internet grows fast, although the best access is usually at the workplace, at school or university or in public net places.