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The cancellation of orders that was brought along with the first wave of the corona pandemic made companies in metal and engineering industries pay greater attention to developing original products, the report “The Impact of the Virus Crisis on the Estonian Economy. Scenarios up to 2030” by the Foresight Centre reveals. The shortage of suitable labour force and the risk-proofing of working processes has also compelled the industry to seek solutions for automating their activities.

The low-interest rates embolden people to look for riskier investment opportunities, which in turn increases expectations on the risk management of financial institutions to avoid jeopardising the savings of private individuals, says the Foresight Centre report “The Impact of the Virus Crisis on the Estonian Economy. Scenarios up to 2030”. Banks have again started to fund the investments of businesses with more confidence.

The reduction of planned treatment and extension of treatment waiting lists has made more people turn to private medicine, the report “The Impact of the Virus Crisis on the Estonian Economy. Scenarios up to 2030” by the Foresight Centre reveals. The increase in people’s health awareness accompanying the virus crisis and the tax exemption on the costs incurred for the promotion of health, introduced in 2018, have also fostered the growth of private medicine.

The corona crisis discourages green transition in the trade because greater attention to hygiene increases the use of packages, and investments into environmental sustainability have been stopped due to the crisis, says the Foresight Centre report “The Impact of the Virus Crisis on the Estonian Economy. Scenarios up to 2030”. The virus crisis has boosted e-commerce in Estonia, but it has not replaced the turnover of traditional shops.

According to the report of the Foresight Centre “The Impact of the Virus Crisis on the Estonian Economy. Scenarios up to 2030,” the virus crisis provides a unique opportunity for renewing the structure of the Estonian economy. In the economy, the crisis will accelerate the trend to automatise and digitise the processes and carry out the plans for innovation urgently.

The corona pandemic led to a massive labour crisis in the agricultural sector because closing the borders between countries left the sector without foreign labourers, said the Foresight Centre report “The Impact of the Virus Crisis on the Estonian Economy. Scenarios up to 2030”, which is soon to be completed. Estonia’s labour market will not be able to fill all the vacancies in the sector in the future either.

The corona pandemic sets in motion the shortening of supply chains in the electronics industry, which leads to some of the manufacturing activities returning to Europe from Asia, showed the Foresight Centre report “The Impact of the Virus Crisis on the Estonian Economy. Scenarios up to 2030”, soon to be published. Estonia can benefit from investments only by offering a stable economic environment for investors.

The Corona pandemic may increase hidden protectionism in the export markets of the Estonian food industries, the Foresight Centre report “The Impact of the Virus Crisis on the Estonian Economy. Scenarios up to 2030” shows. During the first wave of the virus, the monthly turnover in the manufacture of beverages dropped by 20.6%; the greatest decline in the manufacture of food products, 6.9%, took place in April.

Hospitality, catering and travel services were hit the hardest by the first wave of the coronavirus, shows the Foresight Centre report “The Impact of the Virus Crisis on the Estonian Economy. Scenarios up to 2030”, soon to be published. The monthly turnover of the whole sector dropped by 76.2% compared to earlier, while travel companies saw their turnover drop by 98.3%.

The Estonian wood and paper industry resisted the economic impacts of the first wave of the coronavirus better than the average, the Foresight Centre report “The Impact of Virus Crisis on the Estonian Economy” shows. The turnovers of the industry started to recover already in June.