Culture
Culture is an essential part of our everyday life, identity and sense of community, whether it means attending concerts, going to the theatre or a museum, reading books, watching films or participating in a folk culture group.
The statistics give an overview of cultural participation and the cultural sector in Estonia. The statistics cover theatres, museums, libraries, cinemas, concerts, exhibitions, publishing, folk culture, television production, audiovisual services and cultural heritage.
Culture statistics help us assess the changes in people's cultural participation and in their cultural preferences over time as well as the accessibility of cultural activities. The data are used for cultural policies, for the development of the cultural sector and for monitoring the achievement of national goals. Culture statistics are also a valuable source of information for cultural institutions, researchers, local governments and anyone interested in the role of culture in our society.
Every three years, Statistics Estonia carries out the Cultural Participation Survey which is commissioned by the Ministry of Culture. The survey collects information about Estonian residents' cultural participation, access to culture and preferences in terms of cultural activities and hobbies.
Among other things, the results of the survey allow us to assess cultural viability and the national cultural policy, which in turn informs the culture development plan. The same indicators feature in several key national strategies, such as “Estonia 2035” and sustainable development goals.
Culture statistics provide the following information:
- rate of participation in cultural activities among Estonia's population;
- how often people go to the cinema, theatre, concerts, museums, libraries or exhibitions;
- how many films are produced, new exhibitions opened and plays staged;
- how many newspapers, magazines and books are published;
- how many people sing in a choir, participate in a folk dance group or pursue other amateur cultural activities;
- the activities of audio-visual content producers and broadcasters;
- cultural trends and the role of the cultural sector in society.
Persons who attended cinema, concert or theatre, by age, 2023
Unit: %
| Theatre visits | Concert visits | Cinema visits | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Aged 15-24 | 43.9 | 53.4 | 79.8 |
| Aged 25-44 | 43.3 | 55.7 | 70.8 |
| Aged 45-64 | 45.0 | 48.7 | 45.4 |
| 65 and older | 27.0 | 31.3 | 19.6 |
Foreign tourists’ visits to Estonian museums up by nearly a fifth
According to Statistics Estonia, museums in Estonia were visited more than 2.6 million times last year. The number of visits increased by 6.5% compared with 2023. Year on year, the number of visits by foreign tourists was up by 18.2%.