According to the 2026 AHK Business Survey, published by the German-Baltic Chamber of Commerce, Estonia outperformed both Latvia and Lithuania on the key “choose again” indicator. For international companies assessing where to place new projects, exports or regional operations, the result points to a market that still delivers on stability, digital ease and long-term competitiveness.
Foreign investors keep backing Estonia
On the headline measure, Estonia’s 97% result stood well ahead of Latvia’s 72% and Lithuania’s 93%. The survey also showed that companies in Estonia continue to value areas that matter in day-to-day investment decisions, including the country’s digital infrastructure, the digitalisation of public administration, legal certainty and the quality of academic education.
Those strengths help explain why Estonia keeps attracting internationally minded companies that need a predictable operating base inside the EU. The survey was carried out between 3 and 28 March 2026 and included 63 respondents in Estonia, 59 in Latvia and 62 in Lithuania.
The latest figures are a clear sign that Estonia’s focus on long-term competitiveness continues to resonate with investors, says Mirjam Eerma, Head of Investment Management at Enterprise Estonia. For companies looking at the Baltics, that kind of sentiment matters because repeat investment decisions are often the clearest test of whether a location is working in practice.
Revenue and export expectations remain positive
The business outlook in Estonia was not without caution, but it remained constructive in the indicators foreign investors tend to watch most closely. Some 63% of companies in Estonia expect revenue growth in 2026, while only 10% expect a decline. Export expectations were also stronger than the Central and Eastern European average: 48% of respondents in Estonia forecast export growth, compared with a CEE average of 39%.
That matters because many foreign-owned companies use Estonia as a base for regional sales, service delivery and higher-value operations. Positive expectations for both turnover and exports strengthen the case for expanding from Estonia rather than treating it as a small standalone market.
That willingness to reinvest carries additional weight because repeat investment decisions often reflect how a market performs after the initial market-entry phase. In Estonia’s case, the survey suggests that the country’s wider economic fundamentals are still supporting expansion plans in a more demanding regional environment.
R&D depth adds to investor confidence
The survey also pointed to resilience at sector and company level. While 41% of respondents expected their industry to improve this year and 35% expected their own business performance to improve, Estonia also stood out for innovation intensity. Companies reported allocating an average of 7% of investment to R&D, above the CEE average.
That finding fits with Estonia’s broader strengths in research and education and in building businesses around digital capability, specialised know-how and fast cooperation between public and private actors. Combined with a transparent legal system, it gives foreign investors a stronger basis for making long-term decisions in areas that depend on talent, innovation and cross-border growth.
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