Analysis of the economic impact of international students
How active are international students in the Estonian labour market? What is their impact on the local economy during studies and after graduation? How do international students differ from local students? The analysis focused on the participation of international students in the Estonian labour market and its impact on the economy.
At the request of the Education and Youth Board, Statistics Estonia analysed the economic impact of international students working in Estonia. We looked at the fields in which international students mainly go to work, their tax contribution while working in Estonia, both during their studies and after graduation, as well as the types of employment and entrepreneurship.
Report. Economic impact of international students 2025 (only in Estonian).
Interesting facts
- Half (51%) of the international students in Estonia work during their studies. Among local students, 82% work during their studies.
- In the academic year 2024/25, international students contributed €6.1 million in income tax and €10.5 million in social tax in Estonia.
- In the academic year 2024/25, international graduates of the 2023/24 academic year paid €2.8 million in income tax and €4.7 million in social tax in Estonia.
- The most likely to work while studying are international students specialising in engineering, manufacturing and construction and in education.
- Of all the international students and graduates who studied in Estonia between 2017 and 2025 and graduated between 2017 and 2024, 41% were still active on the labour market in Estonia in the 2024/25 academic year.
Commissioned by:
Education and Youth Board
Data sources:
The analysis of employment and income has been carried out on the basis of data on students identified by their personal identification codes in the Estonian Education Information System.
Authors:
Kadri Rootalu
See also:
Read more in the 2025 news release
Report. Economic impact of international students 2023 (only in Estonian).
Read more in the 2023 news release
Report. Economic impact of international students 2022 (only in Estonian).
Read more in the 2022 news release
Report. Economic impact of international students 2021 (only in Estonian).
Read more in the news release.
See also the blog post (only in Estonian).
Presentation. Analysis of the economic impact of international students (only in Estonian).
Report. Economic impact of international students 2020 (only in Estonian).
Read more in the news release.
See also the blog post (only in Estonian).
Presentation. Analysis of the economic impact of international students (only in Estonian).
Report. Economic impact of international students 2019 (only in Estonian).
Read more in the 2019 news release.
See also the 2019 blog post (only in Estonian).