In the first quarter of 2014, the Baltic country’s economy contracted 1.4 percent year on year and not by 1.9% as estimated previously, data released by Statistics Estonia indicate.
Energy was one of the areas that slowed down GDP growth the most, with consumers using less energy during the warm last winter and energy producers importing electricity to replace their own as a cheaper alternative.
Real estate and transport were other areas that experienced a year-on-year decrease. The main reason for the deceleration in real estate was growing flat prices in Estonian cities.
The growth of manufacturing, which is the key impulse to economic growth in Estonia, slowed down mainly due to a decrease in the manufacture of electronic and chemical products, ERR reports.
The decrease in GDP follows a 0.3 percent gain in the 2013 year-on-year fourth quarter statistic. The economy grew 1.3 percent in the same first-quarter statistic in 2013.
The previous time that the GDP contracted was in the 1st quarter of 2010.
Source: Baltic News Network
http://bnn-news.com/estonias-economic-decline-smaller-estimated-114856