Labour Force Survey

The purpose of the Labour Force Survey is to reliably assess the labour market situation in Estonia and to gain an overview about economic activity (employment, unemployment) and working conditions of the population. It is the oldest and largest personal survey in Estonia covering the whole working-age population.

The key indicators of labour market statistics provide an overview of the following:

the employment rate;

the number of employees and their occupations;

how many people work part-time;

how many people are unemployed in Estonia;

the employment rate of the immigrant population;

how many working-age people are economically inactive;

educational attainment of the working-age population by economic activity and county.

Classification of Estonian administrative units and settlements (EHAK);

Estonian Classification of Economic Activities (EMTAK) based on NACE Rev. 2. Until 2025, data are published in accordance with the 2008 version of EMTAK; from 2026 onwards, data are published in accordance with the 2025 version of EMTAK;

Classification of Occupations 2008;

National Standard Classification of Education 2011;

Fields of Education and Training 2013v1;

Classification of Ethnicities 2011;

Classification of countries and territories 2013v1;

Classification of Languages 2013.

Not applicable

Working-age/labour-age population – the part of the population that is used as the basis when examining the economic activity of the population, or in other words, the population of the age that is the object of a labour force survey (population between the ages of 15 and 74, or 15 and 89)

Economically active population / labour force – persons who wish and are able to work (total of employed and unemployed persons)

Employed – a person who during the reference period:
- worked at least one hour and was paid as a wage earner, entrepreneur or freelancer;
- worked without direct payment in a family enterprise or on their own farm;
- participated in work-related training;
- was temporarily absent from work due to holidays, illness, maternity or paternity leave, or work-related training;
- was on parental leave and received or had the right to receive work-related income or (parental) benefits or was to remain on parental leave presumably for less than three months;
- was temporarily absent from work for other reasons and the presumable leave period was less than three months;
- was a seasonal worker outside the work season if he/she continued to regularly fulfil work-related tasks or responsibilities (excl. legal or administrative responsibilities).

Unemployed – a person aged 15–74 who meets all three of the following conditions:
- is without work (does not work anywhere and is not temporarily absent from work);
- is currently (within two weeks) available for work if work is found;
- is actively seeking work

Economically inactive population – persons who do not wish or are not able to work, and who belong to one of the following categories:
- persons aged under 15;
- persons aged 89 and older;
- persons aged 15–89 who were neither employed nor unemployed

Activity limitation – limitation on everyday activities due to health problems. Persons with activity limitations are determined based on individual surveys where people are asked about limitations due to health problems. The persons who answer this question either with „substantially restricted” or „restricted, but not substantially” are included among the persons with activity limitations. Before 2015, when studying the employment of people with disabilities, people who answered "substantially restricted" or “restricted but not substantially" to questions about the type of work, amount of work, or commuting from home in the labour force survey were counted as people with activity limitations.

Below upper secondary education – no basic education, basic education (grades 1–9), vocational basic education, vocational education after basic education

Central Estonia – Järva, Lääne-Viru, and Rapla counties

City settlement region and town settlement region – a region where most of the population lives in areas with a population density of more than 200 people per km² and the population figure in an area of such population density is at least 5,000 inhabitants

Disability – a loss of or abnormality in a person's anatomical, physiological, or mental structure or function identified by the Social Insurance Board, which, in conjunction with barriers arising from attitudes and the environment, prevents participation in society on equal terms with others. There are three degrees of disability: moderate, severe, or profound.

Economic activity – the field of activity of the employed person's place of work according to the Classification of Economic Activities in Estonia (EMTAK)

Economic activity-based sex segregation, or horizontal sex segregation – shows the distribution of men and women across economic activities. The higher the segregation index value, the more segregated the labour market is across economic activities. If the index value is 0%, there is no segregation in the labour market, i.e. women and men are evenly distributed across economic activities. If the index value is 100%, the labour market is completely segregated, i.e. women and men work in completely different economic activities.

Employee – an individual who is employed by an institution, enterprise, or other employer on a full-time or part-time basis (regardless of whether the job is officially registered) and receives compensation in cash or in kind

Employment gap – the difference in employment rates between two groups

Employment rate – the share of the employed in working-age population

Employment status or employed person's status in employment – employed persons are divided into employees, self-employed persons, unpaid family workers, etc.

Ethnic nationality – a person's belonging to an ethnic group based on self-determination of the person. A child’s ethnic nationality is determined by the parents; if a child’s (aged 0–17) ethnic nationality is unknown, they are assigned the nationality of their mother.

Formal education – preprimary, general, vocational, and higher education

Full work ability – a person’s ability to work has not been reduced by his/her health condition and the resulting activity limitations

Gross wages (salaries) – wages and salaries before any deductions for income tax and social security contributions paid by the employee

Household – a group of people who live in a common dwelling (at the same address), share joint financial and/or food resources and whose members consider themselves to belong to the same household. A household may also consist of one member only.

Immigrant population / foreign-origin population – people who were born outside Estonia or whose parents were born outside Estonia. The immigrant population is divided into the first-generation and second-generation immigrant populations according to the country of birth of the person and their parents. The first generation consists of persons who were born abroad and whose parents were also born abroad. The second generation consists of persons who were born in Estonia but whose parents were born abroad.

Knowledge of languages – command of a language at a level sufficient for everyday communication

Labour force participation rate / activity rate – the share of the labour force (the total number of the employed and unemployed) in the working-age population

Labour status – belonging to the economically active or inactive population; the economically active are divided into employed and unemployed

Level of knowledge of language – 1 – can speak and write; 2 – can speak in everyday situations; 3 – can understand in everyday situations

Limited capacity for work – permanent incapacity for work (established by the Social Insurance Board), partial or no work ability (established by the Unemployment Insurance Fund)

Long-term unemployed – unemployed person who has been actively seeking work for 12 months or longer

Long-term unemployment rate – the share of the labour force that has been unemployed for 12 months or more

Loss of work ability – expresses the extent of permanent incapacity for work as a percentage. Permanent incapacity for work was determined by the Social Insurance Board until 2016.

Manager – an employee belonging to the occupational group of managers and having managerial responsibilities

Native population – permanent residents of Estonia who have at least one parent born in Estonia

Non-working household – a household in which no member is employed

Northeastern Estonia – Ida-Viru county

Northern Estonia – Harju county

No work ability – a person's health condition and the resulting limitations on their activities significantly prevent them from working under normal conditions. As of 1 January 2017, work ability is assessed instead of incapacity for work. Work ability is assessed by the Unemployment Insurance Fund.

As of 1 January 2017, the Unemployment Insurance Fund assesses work ability instead of incapacity for work.

Occupation – occupation according to the main groups in the Classification of Occupations (AK)

Occupational group – occupational group according to the main groups in the Classification of Occupations (AK); white-collar workers include managers, professionals, technicians and

associate professionals, as well as clerical support workers; blue-collar workers are all others.

Occupation-based sex segregation or vertical sex segregation – shows the high concentration of women and men in different occupations. The higher the segregation index value, the more segregated the labour market is across occupations. If the index value is 0%, there is no segregation in the labour market, i.e. women and men are evenly distributed across occupations. If the index value is 100%, the labour market is completely segregated, i.e. women and men work in completely different occupations.

Participant in lifelong learning – a person who studied in the formal education system or participated in training during the reference period

Part-time employee – an employed person who normally works less than 35 hours per week, excluding occupations where reduced working hours are established by law

Partial work ability – a person’s working is partially hindered by their health condition and the resulting activity limitations. Partial work ability is established by the Estonian Unemployment Insurance Fund.

Person available to work but not seeking – a person who is not working and is ready to start work immediately (within two weeks) if they find a job but is not actively seeking work. The latter condition distinguishes them from the unemployed.

Person seeking work but not immediately available – a person who is not working and has been actively seeking work during the last four weeks but would not be able to start work immediately (within two weeks) if they found a job. The latter condition distinguishes them from the unemployed.

Person with care responsibilities – a person whose part-time employment or economic inactivity is due to the need to care for children or adults requiring care

Region – region of place of residence according to the European Union's common statistical classification of territorial units (NUTS 3 level): Northern Estonia – Harju county; Central Estonia – Järva, Lääne-Viru, and Rapla counties; Northeastern Estonia – Ida-Viru county; Western Estonia – Hiiu, Lääne, Pärnu, and Saare counties; Southern Estonia – Jõgeva, Põlva, Tartu, Valga, Viljandi, and Võru counties

Relative standard error, or coefficient of variation – the ratio of standard error to published estimate, expressed as a percentage; the smaller the relative standard error, the better the quality of the estimate

Respondent – a person who answered questions in a survey

Response rate – the share of respondents among those included in the sample

Rural settlement – a small town or a village

Rural settlement region – a region where most of the population lives in areas with a population density of less than 200 people per km², or in an area with higher population density where the population figure is under 5,000 inhabitants

Sample – a randomly selected portion of all persons of interest, i.e. the total population, for the purpose of conducting a survey

Sector of economy – the economic activity of the employed person's place of work according to the Classification of Economic Activities in Estonia (EMTAK): primary sector – agriculture, forestry and fishing (A); secondary sector – mining, manufacturing, electricity, gas and water supply, construction (B–F); tertiary sector – trade, services, etc. (G–S)

Sex – legal sex

Southern Estonia – Jõgeva, Põlva, Tartu, Valga, Viljandi, and Võru counties

Standard error – indicates the variability of the estimate resulting from the sample survey

Temporary job – a job taken for a relatively short period of time, the end date of which may be specified in an employment contract, verbal agreement, or in some other way; types of temporary jobs are seasonal job, occasional job, and other temporary job

Tertiary education – short-cycle tertiary education – vocational/professional; Bachelor’s, Master’s or Doctoral level

Training – purposeful organised learning (course, seminar, private lesson) that falls outside of formal education, continuing education; training is divided into work-related and hobby-related training

Underemployed – a person who works part-time but would like to work more and is available for additional work (within two weeks)

Unemployment gap – the difference in unemployment rates between two groups

Unemployment rate – the share of the unemployed in the labour force

Upper secondary education – general secondary education, upper secondary education – vocational, or post-secondary non-tertiary education – vocational

Urban settlement – a city, a city without municipal status, or a town

Very long-term unemployment rate – the share of the labour force that has been unemployed and seeking work for 24 months or more

Western Estonia – Hiiu, Lääne, Pärnu, and Saare counties

Young person neither in employment nor in education and training (NEET) – a person aged 15–34, excluding conscripts and those in institutions, who is not in employment, education or training

Person

Permanent residents of Estonia aged 15 and over, excluding persons living in institutions.

Estonia as a whole

1989–…

Not applicable

Official Statistics Act;

Regulation (EU) 2019/1700 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 10 October 2019 establishing a common framework for European statistics relating to persons and households, based on data at individual level collected from samples, amending Regulations (EC) No 808/2004, (EC) No 452/2008 and (EC) No 1338/2008 of the European Parliament and of the Council, and repealing Regulation (EC) No 1177/2003 of the European Parliament and of the Council and Council Regulation (EC) No 577/98 (Text with EEA relevance)

None

The news items can be viewed on Statistics Estonia's website in the section News.

A news release is published each quarter along with the data. See, for example, the news release for the second quarter of 2025 "Number of unemployed persons down by 5,000 from first quarter".

Not published

Data are published in the statistical database in the tables under the subject area Social life / Labour market;

in the tables under the subject area Social life / Worklife quality / Labour market gaps;

under the subject area Social life / Social exclusion and poverty / Poverty and inequality in tables LES09, LES10, LES11, and LES39.

Data tables previously published as part of this statistical activity, but now discontinued, are available under the subject area Labour market. Archive..

The database tables related to the survey were viewed 26,111 times in 2024, 25,236 times in 2023, 25,446 times in 2022, 37,844 times in 2021, 41,382 times in 2020, 47 629 times in 2019, and 48,888 times in 2018.

Each table view is counted as a separate viewing. This is based on the database URLs, which show that the data have been selected and the table formed.

The dissemination of data collected for the purpose of producing official statistics is guided by the requirements provided for in §§ 33, 34, 35, 36, 38 of the Official Statistics Act.
Access to microdata and anonymisation of microdata are regulated by Statistics Estonia’s procedure for dissemination of confidential data for scientific purposes.

Labour force survey data are published in Statistics Estonia's applications Dashboards,Tree of Truth, and Labour market application (available in Estonian) .

Monthly, quarterly, and annual data are transmitted to Eurostat via the EDAMIS environment. Monthly data (as a three-month moving average) are transmitted 60 days after the end of the reference month, quarterly data 45 days after the end of the reference quarter, and annual average data 45 days after the end of the reference year.

In addition to the data, quality reports are also submitted to Eurostat.

The metadata related to this statistical activity were viewed 726 times (1 January 2024 – 31 December 2024). This figure does not represent the number of viewers, as the metadata may have been viewed multiple times by a single user.

EU labour force survey – methodology (EU-LFS).

The history and methodology of the Estonian Labour Force Survey are described here: Estonian Labour Force Survey. Methodology.

Due to the requirements of the Integrated European Social Statistics (IESS) regulation, as of 2021, the Estonian Labour Force Survey is based on a new methodology (more specifically) Changes in the methodology of the Estonian Labour Force Survey). The main goal of the changes is to improve data quality.

This statistical activity is guided by the European Statistics Code of Practice – revised edition, 2017.

Quality report of the European Union Labour Force Survey 2020–2022 edition.

This is a personal survey. Some of the data are collected with a questionnaire during the survey, some are obtained from administrative sources. The following administrative source data are used:

data on loss of capacity for work and on degree of disability are received from the Social Insurance Board;

data on ongoing studies, if a person is studying in Estonia, are received from the Estonian Education Information System (EHIS) of the Ministry of Education and Research;

data on registered unemployed persons are obtained from the Unemployment Insurance Fund;

data on wages are obtained from the Tax and Customs Board.

The total population in 2024 was 1,019,940 persons aged 15–89. The sample included 1,150 households (2,500 persons) per quarter. The sample design is stratified systematic sampling of individuals whose households are included into the sample.

Stratification is made by place of residence. The 15 counties of Estonia and Tallinn are divided into four strata according to the population size: I – Tallinn, II – four bigger counties (Harju (without Tallinn), Ida-Viru, Pärnu, Tartu), III – ten smaller counties (Jõgeva, Järva, Lääne, Lääne-Viru, Põlva, Rapla, Saare, Valga, Viljandi, Võru), IV – Hiiu county.

Participants in the Labour Force Survey are randomly selected from the Population Register from among persons aged 15 or over. Each person brings their household to the sample and all members of that household aged 15 or over are surveyed.

Continuous

Data are collected from individuals using questionnaires designed to be completed electronically by interviewers or respondents on a computer. Questionnaires and information about data submission are available on Statistics Estonia's website in the section Questionnaires. A brief overview of the survey can be found on Statistics Estonia's website in the section Labour Force Survey.

Before the survey starts, a notification is sent to all the people in the sample, explaining the purpose of the survey and how they will be contacted. The notification is sent to the sample person at the email address indicated in the Population Register. If no email address is available, a letter is sent by post to the address in the Population Register.

In this survey, data are collected through an online questionnaire and a phone interview. For best service, the survey interview call is recorded. Interviews are conducted by specially trained interviewers from Statistics Estonia. The survey can be completed in either Estonian or Russian.

Respondents can contact customer support if they have any questions while filling out the questionnaire.

Since 2001, a module that meets European Union requirements has been added to the Estonian Labour Force Survey questionnaire, with a different topic each year. The purpose of such modules is to collect more detailed information on current labour market issues. More information about Eurostat modules can be found here: Description of the modules.

In addition to collecting data with questionnaires, the dataset is supplemented with information from administrative sources during processing. This is primarily done to reduce the response burden on the respondents. The following variables are linked to the Labour Force Survey dataset from administrative sources: participation in formal education from the Estonian Education Information System, registration as unemployed and level of work ability from the Unemployment Insurance Fund, presence and severity of disability and level of incapacity for work from the Social Insurance Board, wages and salaries from the Tax and Customs Board, ethnic nationality and citizenship from the Population Register.

For non-response correction, individuals are divided into seven response homogeneity groups by place of residence (county and urban/rural) according to the non-response rate in the region. The weight of non-response of the individual is inversely proportional to the overall response rate in this group.

Arithmetic and qualitative controls are used in the validation process, including comparison with other data. Before data dissemination, the internal coherence of the data is checked.

The input data are checked and, if necessary, corrected according to specified rules. The compliance of estimated statistics with the quality requirements is checked as well: comparisons are made with previous periods, internal coherence, the coverage of the total population, and the response rate are checked.

Data validation is carried out in two stages in accordance with Eurostat requirements:

1. Data undergo logical checks when transmitted via EDAMIS;

2. Data are checked against a control table provided by Eurostat.

In the case of missing or unreliable data, estimate imputation based on established regulations are used. Household income and person's gross wages are imputed. First, values for both characteristics are imputed using regression imputation, and then household income or person's net wages are obtained using the hot-deck method.

The weighting procedure takes place in the following three steps:

calculation of design weights;

non-response correction;

calibration of non-response corrected weights.

Before expanding data to the population the weights will be calibrated by sex and age group (5-year groups), ethnic nationality (as of 2005) (Estonians, non-Estonians), educational level (as of 2021) (three levels), county of the place of residence of household, and degree of urbanisation (urban or rural). The basis of the calibration is the distribution of the population of Estonia by sex, age group, and county on 1 January according to demographic data.

After computing calibrated weights, the expansion factor is calculated for every respondent, which is the ratio of the total population to the number of interviewees per quarter. The final weight of the individual is calculated by multiplying the weight found earlier with the expansion factor.

Key labour market indicators are calculated: employment rate and unemployment rate.

Microdata is aggregated to the level required for analysis. This includes summing up data according to the classification and calculating various statistical measures.

The imputation rate shows the share of imputed values among all values. The imputation rate for gross wages and salaries in 2023 was 8.29%.

Seasonally unadjusted indicators are published in Statistics Estonia's database.

Seasonally unadjusted indicators are published in Statistics Estonia's database.