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The economy grew by 1.8% in the second quarter

Date 31.08.2026

Article

Robert Müürsepp, the National Accounts Service Manager at Statistics Estonia, said that the Estonian economy grew for the fifth quarter in a row. “In the second quarter, two thirds of the economic activities made a positive contribution to the GDP. Similarly to the first quarter, manufacturing was the biggest driver of economic growth as its value added grew by 6.5%. It was followed by agriculture, forestry and fishing where the increase in value added was 168% due to the exceptionally low reference base of last year. In construction, value added was up by 7.5%,” said Müürsepp. A considerable

Average wages increased by 5.6% last year

Date 05.03.2026

Article

Krista Vaikmets, leading analyst at Statistics Estonia, said that wage growth slowed down in 2025. “Last year, wages and salaries did not grow as fast as in previous years, but monthly gross wages still increased in all counties. The biggest increase was registered in Valga, Põlva and Rapla counties where gross wages were up by more than 6.5% last year,” she said. Vaikmets added that, in 2025, the average monthly gross wages and salaries were the highest in Harju county (2,336 euros), rising by 5.3% year on year, and in Tartu county (2,112 euros), growing by 5.9% year on year. “Looking at

The consumer price index was up by 3.1% in February year on year

Date 06.03.2026

Article

Lauri Veski, the Consumer Price Statistics Service Manager at Statistics Estonia, explained that inflation – i.e. the year-on-year increase in the consumer price index – has shown gradual decline in recent months. “With the exception of November 2025, inflation has been in decline since September last year,” he noted. The rise in the consumer price index in February year on year was primarily influenced by the increases in the prices of food products (5.5%), health products and services (12%), alcoholic beverages and tobacco (7.9%) and housing (1.5%). Electricity prices remained high in

Working Life Survey

Area

What kind of survey is it? The Working Life Survey provides an overview of work and working time organisation, occupational health, remunerations, employee development and involvement, and collective employment relations in Estonia. Both employers and employees are surveyed to get a comprehensive picture of working life and employment relations in Estonia, to assess the influencing factors, and to compare changes over time. Who commissions the survey? For the survey, the main representative of public interest is the Ministry of Social Affairs. Why are the data needed? The data from the Working

Study: Estonian Adults Among the Best in the World in Skills, Especially in Younger Generations

Date 11.12.2024

Article

Minister of Education and Research Kristina Kallas stated that the survey results suggest we are moving in the right direction with our education reforms. “People with lower education levels tend to have weaker skills and lower life satisfaction. Extending compulsory education, as we recently initiated, is clearly the right direction in light of these results. The survey also shows that Russian-speaking residents face challenges in the labor market due to lower skills, often caused by insufficient proficiency in Estonian. Transitioning to Estonian-language education is crucial, and we need to

The economy grew for the fourth quarter in a row: GDP up by 2.4% in Q1

Date 29.05.2026

Article

Robert Müürsepp, the National Accounts Service Manager at Statistics Estonia, said that GDP growth was last over 2% in the first quarter of 2022. “GDP increased for the fourth quarter in a row,” he said. “In the case of most economic activities, their contribution to GDP in the first quarter was positive, although mostly modest,” added Müürsepp. He said that, for the third consecutive quarter, manufacturing was the biggest driver of economic growth as its value added was up by 7%. Administrative and support service activities also had a significant impact with a 11.6% increase in value added

Does Estonia need European statistics? Yes, because having data on Estonia alone is not enough

Date 20.10.2026

Article

There is much value in the knowledge that the unemployment rate in Estonia was 6.6% in the second quarter of 2026, or that prices in September were 3.5% higher than in the same month a year ago. But we need comparative data on other countries to assess whether our indicators are exceptional or normal, whether the changes in Estonia are faster or slower than in other countries, and what we could learn from other countries’ experience. For a small country, comparisons are especially valuable. With a population of just 1.3 million, Estonia cannot always rely on its own experience when making

Estonia’s economy fared better in 2025 than in the two preceding years

Date 02.03.2026

Article

Robert Müürsepp, the National Accounts Service Manager at Statistics Estonia, said that 2025 was a better year for the Estonian economy than the previous two years. “The GDP showed growth in the last three quarters, and the annual GDP growth was 0.6%,” he added. Manufacturing was the biggest contributor to economic growth in Q4 Similarly to the third quarter, the contribution of most economic activities to the GDP remained modest. Manufacturing was the biggest positive contributor, as its value added increased by 13.3%. Information and communication also had a significant impact – its value

The unemployment rate was 6.6% in the second quarter

Date 14.08.2026

Article

Tea Vassiljeva, leading analyst at Statistics Estonia, said that the decline in unemployment is a sign that the economy is improving. “However, there are no grounds for optimism yet, as there has been no rise in employment and the share of economically inactive people among the working-age population is substantial,” added Vassiljeva. In the second quarter, the number of employed persons was 691,600 – this is 5,700 fewer than a year earlier but 5,300 more than in the first quarter. The employment rate was 68.6%, which is slightly lower than last year and just 0.6 percentage points higher than

Consumer price index up by 2.2% in July year on year

Date 07.08.2026

Article

Lauri Veski, the Consumer Price Statistics Service Manager at Statistics Estonia, explained that the year-on-year comparison again shows a relatively small rise in prices. “The last time the annual price increase was this small was in April 2021. Although the prices of housing, transport, and alcohol and tobacco have gone up over the year, the rise in the index is being held back by the cheaper prices of food and non-alcoholic beverages,” added Veski. Housing-related prices were affected mainly by the price list changes that took effect in July. Due to the waste reform, the price of waste