International Men's Day is celebrated this coming Sunday, 19 November. Epp Remmelg, leading analyst at Statistics Estonia, took the opportunity to find out how the Estonian man is doing.

According to preliminary data of Statistics Estonia, the population of Estonia on 1 January 2023 was 1,357,739, an increase by 2% (or 25,943 people) compared with a year earlier. Ene-Margit Tiit, an expert in population statistics, took a closer look at how many ethnic Estonians live here and how many Estonians there are in the world.

Today, Statistics Estonia is launching the largest and most comprehensive relationship survey in Estonia so far, titled “Safe relationships within family, at work and outside work”. The purpose of the survey is to get an overview of well-being and safety in relationships. An invitation to participate in the survey is sent by post to over 16,000 people.

Statistics Estonia will resume in-home interviews to collect data for personal surveys. Each week, the spread of COVID-19 in counties will be assessed, and interviewers will visit homes only if the incidence of COVID-19 is medium or low according to the data of the Health Board.

Today, on 25 February, the Statistical Council held a meeting where they reviewed last year’s results and commended the production of official statistics, but the Council also acknowledged that the statistical system continues to be underfunded. The Council was briefed on the methodology approved by Statistics Estonia for the Population and Housing Census: namely, a register-based census, which is in accordance with EU regulations, combined with a sample survey to collect data on characteristics not covered by registers.

At the end of last year and beginning of this year, Statistics Estonia carried out the main rehearsal of the Population and Housing Census. 843 persons living at 422 addresses responded to the test survey online. Interviewers collected responses from 785 persons living at 410 addresses. The test survey response rate was 87.5% and the received feedback was generally positive.

On 30 December, Statistics Estonia starts a month-long test survey of the Population and Housing Census to check readiness for the big census. Around 2,000 persons are included in the main rehearsal of the population census.

The Statistical Council, formed by the order of the Government of the Republic, convened on 26 November. At the meeting, the results of the second trial census of the population and housing census were presented. The Statistical Council supports the decision of Statistics Estonia to combine the register-based census with sample surveys.