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A fifth of the residents of Estonia live in relative poverty

Date 25.06.2009
Article
According to Statistics Estonia, in 2007 19.5% of the Estonian population lived in relative poverty, a similar amount to the previous year. The difference in income between the poorest and richest fifth of the population was fivefold, leaving Estonia persistently in the top ten of the poorest countries in Europe.

The number of people who are at risk of poverty decreased

Date 18.12.2020
Article
According to Statistics Estonia, 2.3% of the population of Estonia lived in absolute poverty and 20.7% lived at risk of poverty in 2019. Compared to 2018, the share of people at risk of poverty fell by one percentage point. The share of people living in absolute poverty rose by 0.1 percentage point.

The number of job vacancies was the highest in education and trade

Date 10.03.2026
Article
The total number of vacant and occupied posts in the fourth quarter was a little under 584,000. Vacancies represented 1.5% of all job posts. The number of vacant posts was the highest in education (1,435) and wholesale and retail trade (including repair of motor vehicles and motorcycles) (1,431). Krista Vaikmets, leading analyst at Statistics Estonia, said that the number of job vacancies declined by nearly 500 in the fourth quarter year on year. However, the rate of job vacancies – i.e. the share of vacancies in the total number of posts – remained at a similar level as in the fourth quarter

At-risk-of-poverty rate

Area
Being at risk of poverty means that a person’s income is below the at-risk-of-poverty threshold. The threshold is calculated on the basis of equivalised disposable income that takes into account the composition of the household (the weight of the first adult member is 1, the weight of each additional member aged at least 14 years is 0.5 and the weight of everyone under 14 years of age is 0.3), i.e. the total household income is divided by the sum of equivalence scales of household members. The at-risk-of-poverty threshold is 60% of the median equivalised annual disposable income of household

The percentage of people living in relative poverty increased last year

Date 16.12.2011
Article
According to Statistics Estonia in 2010, 17.5% of the Estonian population lived in relative poverty. The percentage of people living in relative poverty increased 1.7 percentage points compared to the previous year. In 2009 the at-risk-of-poverty rate was 15.8%.

Every sixth person in Estonia lived in relative poverty last year

Date 19.12.2012
Article
According to Statistics Estonia, in 2011, 17.5% of the Estonian population lived in relative poverty. The overall percentage of people living in relative poverty stayed on the same level compared to the previous year, but the income of the population increased.

Job vacancies down by 5.4% in the third quarter

Date 08.12.2025
Article
Eveli Voolens, team lead of social statistics at Statistics Estonia, noted that Statistics Estonia uses the data of the employment register of the Estonian Tax and Customs Board to estimate the number of occupied posts and labour turnover. Data on job vacancies, however, are collected by Statistics Estonia using a questionnaire. The rate of job vacancies was 1.6% in the third quarter of 2025 The total number of vacant and occupied posts in the third quarter was 588,494. The number of vacant posts was the highest in education (2,025) and in wholesale and retail trade (1,264). The number of

Pensions and benefits influenced significantly poverty rates in 2009

Date 21.02.2011
Article
According to Statistics Estonia, in 2009 the average income of population decreased and the unemployment increased due to the economic crisis, but increased pensions and governmental benefits helped people to prevent the fall in poverty.

Absolute poverty

Area
Absolute poverty means that a person’s income is below the absolute poverty threshold. The threshold is calculated on the basis of equivalised disposable income that takes into account the composition of the household (the weight of the first adult member is 1, the weight of each additional member aged at least 14 years is 0.7 and the weight of everyone under 14 years of age is 0.5), i.e. the total household income is divided by the sum of equivalence scales of household members. The absolute poverty threshold is the estimated subsistence minimum, which represents the financial cost of meeting