Gender pay gap was the smallest on record
According to Statistics Estonia, in 2021, the gross hourly earnings of female employees were 14.9% smaller than the earnings of male employees. The gender pay gap decreased by 0.7 percentage points year on year.
In 2021, the gross hourly earnings of female employees were 8.48 euros and the gross hourly earnings of male employees were 9.97 euros. The gap was biggest in financial and insurance activities (25.7%), followed by wholesale and retail trade (24.2%), human health and social work activities (23.8%) and information and communication (23.5%).
“As in 2020, transportation and storage was the only economic activity where women earned more than men – pay gap was 5.2%. The wage gap was small also in accommodation and food service activities where men did earn a little more than women, but the gap was relatively small – 5.8%,” said Argo Tarkiainen, analyst at Statistics Estonia.
According to the analyst, the gender pay gap has decreased by nearly 10 percentage points in Estonia since 2013. “In 2021, compared to 2020, the wage gap decreased the most in accommodation and food service activities and increased the most in construction.”
The gender pay gap is calculated as the difference between the average gross hourly earnings of male and female employees, divided by the average gross hourly earnings of male employees, and is expressed as a percentage. The average gross earnings, as used in the calculation of the gender pay gap, do not include irregular bonuses or premiums. The statistics are based on the questionnaire “Wage gap”. Statistics Estonia analyses the data collected with the questionnaire for the Ministry of Economic Affairs and Communications.
Statistics Estonia and Eurostat use different methodologies to calculate the gender pay gap. The gender pay gap published by Eurostat does not take into account the indicators of enterprises and institutions with fewer than 10 employees; it also excludes the earnings of employees in agriculture, forestry and fishing and in public administration and defence.
More detailed data on gender pay gap have been published in the statistical database.
For further information
Kadri Kütt
Media Relations Manager
Marketing and Dissemination Department
Statistics Estonia
Tel +372 625 9181