Analytics, Business, Estonia, EU – Baltic States, Markets and Companies

Of the respondents interviewed for the survey, 4% expected revenue to decrease and 14% anticipated a drop in profit. Altogether 32% of Estonian business operators expected export to increase, Grant Thornton said.

The company highlighted the business operators' assessment of the shortage of qualified labor - according to the survey 44% of respondents consider the shortage of qualified labor to be a problem in the next 12 months. Of the 36 countries questioned, the average indicator concerning this issue was 35%.

"The survey was conducted in 36 countries and interviewed 2,500 businesses. The survey was carried out in Estonia by pollster Kantar Emor, during which 50 Estonian business operators were interviewed. The survey was carried out over the phone, at random and interviews were carried out either with the company's CEO or CFO," Gerli Soosalu, marketing and communications manager at Grant Thornton, told BNS. The survey was carried out in the second quarter of 2017.

According to the results of the survey, 67% of businesses in Sweden, 79% of businesses in Germany, 70% of businesses in the U.S., 62% of businesses in the U.K. and 31% of businesses in Russia expect their revenue to increase.

"Biggest growth expectations were registered in Germany, Sweden and the Netherlands and this is good news for Estonia, as two of the aforementioned countries are very important trade partners and the Netherlands is also among Estonia's 10 largest export partners," Mati Nommiste, managing partner of Grant Thornton, said.