Average wages and salaries rose by 8.1% last year
According to Statistics Estonia, the average monthly gross wages and salaries in 2024 stood at €1,981, which is 8.1% higher than in 2023. In the fourth quarter of 2024, the average monthly gross wages and salaries were €2,062, which is 8.3% higher than in the same quarter of 2023.
Sigrid Saagpakk, analyst at Statistics Estonia, said that the average monthly gross wages and salaries in 2024 were the highest in Tallinn (€2,325) and in Harju (€2,218) and Tartu (€1,995) counties. “Compared with 2023, the biggest increase in wages and salaries was seen in Hiiu (9.9%) and Ida-Viru (9.7%) counties. Wages and salaries rose by more than 6.5% in all Estonian counties,” the analyst stated.
The highest average wages and salaries in 2024 were found in information and communication, at €3,484. “This was followed by financial and insurance activities (€3,127) and electricity, gas, steam and air conditioning supply (€2,697),” said Saagpakk.
The lowest average wages and salaries last year were observed in accommodation and food service activities (€1,264). The highest wage increases were recorded in human health and social work activities (11.9%) and in other service activities (9.8%).
Median of gross wages (salaries) is the wage level at which half of the employees earn less than that level and half earn more than that level. Both average and median wages have been rising in recent years, but wage growth slowed in 2024. “The median wages were €1,628 last year. Compared with 2023, when the median wages stood at €1,501, the wage increase was 8.5%,” the analyst noted.
In 2024, the largest number of employees – 101,400 people, accounting for 17% of all employed persons – was recorded in manufacturing. This was followed by wholesale and retail trade (incl. repair of motor vehicles and motorcycles) with nearly 90,000 employees, education with almost 65,000, and human health and social work activities with close to 48,000 employees.
In the final quarter of last year, the average monthly gross wages and salaries were €2,062
The average monthly gross wages and salaries in the fourth quarter of 2024 were €2062, which is 8.3% higher than in the same quarter of 2023. The median wages in the final quarter of last year were €1,699.
The highest average monthly gross wages and salaries in the fourth quarter of 2024 were recorded in Tallinn – €2,407. “The average wages and salaries in both Harju and Tartu counties were above the Estonian average, at €2,299 and €2,092 respectively,” Saagpakk explained, adding that the lowest wage level in the last quarter was seen in Valga county (€1,507). The average wages and salaries were below €1,600 also in Saare (€1,584) and Lääne (€1,586) counties.
Since the first quarter of 2023, Statistics Estonia uses data from the employment register of the Tax and Customs Board and the income and social tax declarations to publish the average wages and salaries. People working under employment contracts, the Civil Service Act*, and service contracts are included.
* Excluding employees in the areas of governance of the Ministry of Defence and the Ministry of the Interior.
More detailed data have been published in the wages and salaries and labour costs section on our website.
When using Statistics Estonia’s data and graphs, please indicate the source.
For further information:
Heidi Kukk
Media Relations Manager
Marketing and Dissemination Department
Statistics Estonia
Tel +372 5696 6484
press [at] stat.ee (press[at]stat[dot]ee)