Number of unemployed persons down by 5,000 from first quarter

“Compared with the first quarter, labour market indicators have improved, but remain below the figures for the second quarter of 2024,” said Tea Vassiljeva, analyst at Statistics Estonia.

The analyst noted that while the unemployment rate in the second quarter (7.8%) was slightly higher than in last year’s second quarter (7.6%), it was 0.8 percentage points lower than in the first quarter of 2025. “The unemployment rate for men (8.4%) was higher than that for women (7.2%). There were a total of 59,200 unemployed persons in the second quarter, which is 5,000 fewer than in the previous quarter. Of the unemployed in the second quarter, 32,300 were men and 26,800 were women. The number of unemployed individuals decreased in the second quarter compared with the first quarter in all regions except Ida-Viru county, where a slight increase was observed,” Vassiljeva stated. 

The number of employed persons increased year on year primarily in Harju county

The number of employed persons in the second quarter of this year stood at 697,300, which is 9,200 fewer than a year earlier, but 15,700 more than in the first quarter. “The employment rate of 68.9% was 0.8 percentage points lower than a year earlier, but 1.5 percentage points higher than in the first quarter of this year,” the analyst said. 

There were 351,700 men and 345,600 women in employment. The number of employed men increased compared with both the second quarter of last year (+500) and the first quarter of this year (+11,800). However, there were 9,700 fewer employed women in the second quarter of this year than a year earlier and 3,900 more than in the first quarter of 2025.

According to Vassiljeva, the number of employed persons was up year on year particularly in Harju county. Compared with the first quarter, an increase was also seen in Western Estonia (Hiiu, Lääne, Pärnu, and Saare counties) and Southern Estonia (Jõgeva, Põlva, Tartu, Valga, Viljandi, and Võru counties). The number of employed individuals fell in Ida-Viru county compared with both the second quarter of 2024 and the first quarter of 2025. 

Compared with the second quarter of last year, the number of employed persons declined in all sectors. However, there was a slight increase in the number of employees in industry and construction, while the number of self-employed persons decreased. Compared with the first quarter, the number of both employed people and employees was up in agriculture, forestry and fishing, and in industry and construction, but down in the services sector.

“In comparison with the second quarter of last year, the number of employed persons working full-time fell and the number of those working part-time rose, while a drop was seen in the number of the underemployed, i.e. part-time employees who would have preferred to work more than they did,” she explained.

The number of employed young people decreased, unemployment increased

Employment figures for 15–24-year-olds fell compared with both the second quarter of 2024 and the first quarter of 2025. Although this year there are more young people aged 15–24 than a year ago, the number of employed young people declined by 4,600 in the second quarter compared with the same period last year. 

“The youth employment rate of 32.3% was 4.4 percentage points lower than a year ago and 1.8 percentage points lower than in the first quarter of this year,” the analyst said, adding that the decline was particularly sharp among young women, namely -7.5 percentage points year on year and -2.6 percentage points compared with the first quarter of 2025. The youth unemployment rate was high (25.4%), which is 2.8 percentage points higher than in the second quarter of last year and 6.6 percentage points higher than in the first quarter of this year.

Two sources can be used to monitor unemployment trends: the register data of the Unemployment Insurance Fund and the Estonian Labour Force Survey data collected by Statistics Estonia. Although both sources describe the same phenomenon, there are differences between them in addition to similarities.

The Labour Force Survey statistics include permanent residents of Estonia who live or plan to live in Estonia for at least a year or more. The number of temporarily protected Ukrainian refugees included in the Labour Force Survey is too small to give estimates on them.

A percentage is a part of a whole; a percentage value is indicated by the percent sign (%). A percentage point is the difference between percentages.

More detailed data have been published in the statistical database and in the labour market section on our website.

When using Statistics Estonia’s data and graphs, please indicate the source.

For further information:

Silvia Uus
Team Lead
Marketing and Dissemination Department
Statistics Estonia
Tel +372 5695 8245
press [at] stat.ee (press[at]stat[dot]ee)

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