Estonia has been a member of the European Union since 2004 and adopted the euro as its official currency in 2011. Estonia joined the OECD in 2010.

It takes less than 20 minutes to establish a company in Estonia and registration can be completed entirely online. Companies registered in Estonia do not pay income tax on re-invested profits. Foreign and domestic investments in Estonia are treated equally under the law. Estonia has highly developed digital infrastructure with wide internet access, digital signatures, national identification cards, and most government services are online. Nearly 99 percent of banking transactions in Estonia are conducted electronically.

Estonia is the most transparent and the least corrupt country in the Central and Eastern Europe region – it was ranked 13th out of 180 counties on the 2021 Corruption Perception Index together with Canada, Austria, and Ireland.

Estonia recovered quickly from COVID-19 pandemic and experienced 8.3 percent GDP growth last year. The economy is expected to grow fast this year as well, but with the estimated rate of inflation exceeding growth forecasts, some decline in real growth is predicted.

According to the U.S. Census Bureau’s Foreign Trade Division, the principal exports in 2021 from the United States were gas turbines, motor vehicles and parts thereof, wireless networks and electronic precision measuring equipment. U.S. exports to Estonia were $445 million and Estonian exports to the United States were a little over $1.9 billion.

Estonia’s main trading partners are Finland, Sweden, Germany, and Russia, while the U.S. share of Estonia’s foreign trade is approximately 1 percent.

Political & Economic Environment:  State Department’s website for background on the country’s political environment.