Per capita GDP of counties becoming more even

In 2017, Estonia’s GDP reached 24 billion euros at current prices. Harju county’s contribution amounted to 15 billion euros, 13 billion euros of which came from Tallinn. Harju county was followed by Tartu county and Ida-Viru county, the shares of which in Estonia’s GDP stood at 11% and 6%, respectively. Hiiu and Põlva counties had the smallest shares in 2017 – both contributed less than 1% to the Estonian GDP.

Over 70% of the gross value added of Estonia was created in the service sector in 2017. The influence of the cities of Tallinn and Tartu, in particular, resulted in Harju county and Tartu county having the largest share of services – 76% and 70%, respectively. Contrary to the previous trend, the share of the service sector in value added declined slightly in all counties except in Lääne county. Most notable drops in the share of the sector took place in Põlva, Järva and Jõgeva counties.

Industry and construction accounted for 28% of the gross value added of Estonia in 2017. As the share of the service sector has declined, the share of industry and construction in the value added of multiple counties has increased slightly over the past year. The sector accounts for the largest share in value added in Ida-Viru county (51%), and for the smallest share in Harju (23%), Põlva (26%) and Tartu (27%) counties. While the reason for the small share in Harju and Tartu counties is a large service sector, Põlva county has a large agricultural sector.

The agricultural sector accounted for 3% of the gross value added of Estonia in 2017. This sector had the largest share in Jõgeva county (18%), followed by Viljandi (16%) and Põlva (13%) counties. While in general, the share of the sector in the value added of counties has shown a downward trend, it saw some increase in 2017 following a weak 2016. This was most notable in counties where the sector has a larger share in value added.

In 2017, GDP per capita was 17,943 euros, which is 1,464 euros more than a year earlier. GDP per capita was highest in Harju county – 144% of the Estonian average. Harju county was followed by Tartu and Pärnu counties, where GDP per capita amounted to, respectively, 92% and 69% of the Estonian average. The lowest GDP per capita was recorded in Põlva county – 42% of the Estonian average. In recent years, the GDP per capita of many counties has been approaching the Estonian average. This is most notable in Lääne, Saare and Valga counties. The gap between Harju county and the Estonian average has also narrowed. This means that the per capita GDP of the rest of Estonia is getting closer to Harju county.

Agricultural sector – agriculture, forestry and fishing.

Industry and construction – mining and quarrying; manufacturing; electricity, gas, steam and air conditioning supply; water supply; sewerage, waste management and remediation activities; construction.

Service sector – wholesale and retail trade; repair of motor vehicles and motorcycles; transportation and storage; accommodation and food service activities; information and communication; financial and insurance activities; real estate activities; professional, scientific and technical activities; administrative and support service activities; public administration and defence; compulsory social security; education; human health and social work activities; arts, entertainment and recreation; other service activities.

On 30 August 2019, Statistics Estonia will publish the revised national accounts time series for the period 1995–2018. Additional information on the national accounts benchmark revisions based on the European Commission’s revision policies is available on Statistics Estonia webpage. Revised regional GDP will be released in December 2019.

For the statistical activity “Regional GDP”, the main representative of public interest is the Ministry of Finance, commissioned by whom Statistics Estonia performs this statistical activity.