Consumer Survey
What kind of survey is it?
The Consumer Survey measures consumer confidence. The survey reflects Estonian residents’ perceptions of the economic situation, price changes and unemployment, and provides information about their purchases of durable goods, savings and plans for major purchases. The survey is conducted in all European Union countries.
The survey is part of a programme of five surveys (the other four are business surveys).
Who commissions the survey?
Statistics Estonia conducts the Consumer Survey from May 2026. The survey is carried out in all European Union countries pursuant to the Joint Harmonised EU Programme of Business and Consumer Surveys. The use of a common methodology ensures the comparability of the results. The Consumer Survey is part of the statistical programme for the period 2026–2030 approved by the Government of the Republic
Why are the data needed?
The Consumer Survey gives an overview of current economic tendencies, often before other official statistical indicators are published. The use of an international methodology allows easy comparisons of the economic situation across European Union countries.
The survey results are essential for state agencies in the planning of fiscal and tax policies and for assessing the impact of social policies and measures. Based on the data, banks assess consumers’ willingness to borrow and their savings and investment behaviour. Enterprises use the data to forecast demand and to plan their sales, pricing and marketing strategies. The survey results are also used in economic forecasting and analysis and in research.
The consumer confidence indicator is used in the calculation of the Economic Sentiment Indicator (ESI) published by the European Commission.
How often is the survey conducted?
This is a monthly survey. The results are published as monthly and quarterly data.
How are the participants selected?
The Consumer Survey respondents are randomly selected from the statistical population register (from all permanent residents aged 18 and over). The participants’ contact information is obtained from the population register. The selected participants are asked to complete the survey twice in one year with a six-month interval.
How are the data collected?
The data are collected with an online questionnaire that is available from the first working day of the month and must be completed by the 14th day of the month the latest.
Before the survey begins, all selected participants will receive an email introducing the survey and its purpose and specifying the dates of the survey period. The notification letter is sent to the participant’s email address as listed in the population register.
In May, June and July 2026, both online completion and phone interviewing are used in the Consumer Survey. The respondents are divided between the two survey modes – each participant can complete the survey either online or over the phone, and the assigned survey mode cannot be changed.
The participants selected for the phone interview will similarly receive a notification email before the survey begins, explaining the objective of the survey and specifying the period when an interviewer will be contacting the respondent. The notification letter is sent to the participant’s email address as listed in the population register.
For quality assurance purposes, the phone interview will be recorded, subject to the respondent’s consent.
To interview a selected participant, the interviewer will make a maximum of 10 contact attempts.
What happens to the collected data?
Once your answers have been entered, the data are transmitted from the collection application to a section of Statistics Estonia’s data warehouse that has very restricted access and where the collected data are stored as personally identifiable information. The personal data in the data warehouse can be accessed only by a few authorised employees of Statistics Estonia. Next, the data are processed and pseudonymised or de-identified (by removing personal identification codes, names, exact place of residence, contact details, etc.). The pseudonymised data which are used in further processing and data analysis are stored in a secure section of the data warehouse that can be accessed only by analysts of the specific domain and by mathematical statisticians. They use the data to produce official statistical indicators that will be published in the statistical database. The data published this way are aggregates and do not allow the identification of specific individuals.
Statistics Estonia fulfils confidentiality requirements. In the case of sample surveys, data subsets are not published if they are based on fewer than 20 records. Among other things, this helps to prevent the direct or indirect identification of respondents based on the data published.
The Official Statistics Act stipulates strict requirements for the prevention of the accidental release of personal data. For example, the data can be transmitted only to another producer of official statistics (in Estonia, this applies only to Eesti Pank) or to Eurostat or the national statistical institutes of European Union Member States, all of whom comply with the obligation to maintain confidentiality. Policymakers and researchers can apply for the right to access pseudonymised data in Statistics Estonia’s secure research work environment, in accordance with the Official Statistics Act. This is governed by a separate procedure, requiring the applicant to provide a legitimate reason for such data use and to secure the approval of the Data Protection Inspectorate or the ethics committee of the relevant scientific field (depending on the type of data). Each request for access to data is processed by Statistics Estonia’s Confidentiality Council who will decide whether the applicant’s request can be granted. For more information, visit https://stat.ee/en/find-statistics/request-statistics/use-confidential-data-scientific-purposes.
The data storage periods are stipulated in Statistics Estonia’s classification scheme which is available on Statistics Estonia’s website at https://www.stat.ee/en/statistics-estonia/document-register. Read more about the general data protection requirements at https://stat.ee/en/statistics-estonia/data-protection-privacy-policy.
Where are the results published?
The survey results are published each month in the statistical database. The results are also published in the database of the Directorate-General for Economic and Financial Affairs (DG ECFIN) of the European Commission and in Eurostat’s database.
How can I make sure that it is a survey by Statistics Estonia?
The surveys conducted by Statistics Estonia can be found in the survey schedule on our website. The online questionnaires can be completed in the LimeSurvey environment, accessed via the link sent by email.
Phone interviews are conducted by Statistics Estonia’s specially trained interviewers. The interviewer’s name and phone number can be checked on the contacts page on our website.
If you have any questions, please contact our customer support by phone at +372 625 9300 or by email at klienditugi [at] stat.ee (klienditugi[at]stat[dot]ee).