The unemployment rate was 7.1% in the first quarter

Tea Vassiljeva, analyst at Statistics Estonia, said that, in the first quarter, the labour market showed no signs of major changes in any direction. “There were 52,200 unemployed people in the first quarter, up by 5,100 from the fourth quarter of last year. This number is still significantly lower than in the first quarter of last year, when the number of unemployed people was very high,” noted Vassiljeva.

The unemployment rate is the share of the unemployed in the labour force. The unemployment rate was 7.1% in the first quarter, which is 0.7 percentage points higher than in the last quarter of 2025 but 1.5 percentage points lower than in the first quarter of 2025.

The number of employed people decreased in the services sector

The number of employed people was 686,300 in the first quarter – down by 2,300 from the previous quarter and up by 4,700 compared with the first quarter of last year. “The employment rate (68%), which is the share of the employed in the working-age population, was similarly lower than in the previous quarter but higher than in the first quarter of last year,” said Vassiljeva.

In the services sector, the number of employed people, including employees, decreased compared with both the previous quarter and year on year, which was due to still weak domestic demand. Employment was up in the industry and construction sector.

Regionally, employment increased in Harju county and in Tallinn and decreased in Ida-Viru county and in the counties in Southern Estonia – both year on year and compared with the previous quarter. In Central Estonia, employment decreased year on year but increased compared with the last quarter of 2025. The trend was the opposite for Western Estonia. The unemployment rate was the lowest in Harju county (excluding Tallinn) and in Southern Estonia (5.7% for both). The unemployment rate in Central Estonia was the same as the Estonian average (7.1%), but it was 7.7% in Tallinn and 11.6% in Ida-Viru county.

Youth employment rate was the lowest of the last 15 years

“In 2026, the overall working-age population decreased year on year, while the age group 15–24 was one of the few to increase – by 3,700,” said Vassiljeva. There were 146,700 young people in the first quarter, with 41,900 of them employed and 12,400 unemployed.

The youth employment rate was 28.6% and fell both year on year and compared with the previous quarter. The youth unemployment rate was 22.8% in the first quarter this year. “The youth employment rate in the first quarter has not been this low since 2011, and the youth unemployment rate was also higher than the long-term average,” said Vassiljeva. She explained that this is related to young people often being employed in the services sector where employment was down overall. Also, in recent quarters, there have been fewer economically active young people. “Their labour force participation rate has traditionally been over 40% but has been below that level for two quarters now. It was 37% in the first quarter of this year,” she said. 

“The total number of economically inactive people across all age groups decreased in the first quarter compared with the previous quarter, but this was more due to the general decline in the working-age population,” explained Vassiljeva. The labour force participation rate was 73.2%; it shows the share of the labour force in the working-age population, i.e. people that are employed or actively seeking work. The labour force participation rate was up by 0.5 percentage points from the previous quarter and down by 0.5 percentage points year on 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 some methodological differences. See here for more information (in Estonian).

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.

Data as at 15 May 2026 are published. The indicator values may change if there are any revisions made in the data sources after this date.

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:

Annaliisa Köss
Media Relations Partner
Marketing and Dissemination Department
Statistics Estonia
Tel +372 5696 6484
press [at] stat.ee (press[at]stat[dot]ee)

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