Analysis of the economic impact of international students
How active are international students in the Estonian labour market? What is their impact on the local economy during studies and after graduation? How do international students differ from local students? The analysis focused on the participation of international students in the Estonian labour market and its impact on the economy.
At the request of the Education and Youth Board, Statistics Estonia analysed the economic impact of international students working in Estonia. We looked at the fields in which international students mainly go to work, their tax contribution while working in Estonia, both during their studies and after graduation, as well as the types of employment and entrepreneurship.
Report. Economic impact of international students 2023 (only in Estonian).
Interesting facts
- More than half (56%) of the international students in Estonia work during their studies; among local students, whereas 86% of the local students do.
- The majority of international graduates who stay in Estonia work in Tallinn.
- In the academic year 2022/23, labour taxes paid for international students working in Estonia amounted to 16.6 million euros.
- The previous year's international graduates contributed 6.9 million euros in income tax. This amount has decreased in a year, mainly due to a decline in the number of international graduates staying in Estonia to work.
- The most likely to work while studying are international students in information and communication technologies (ICT) or engineering, manufacturing and construction, as well as business, administration and law. 70% of international ICT students worked during their studies in the academic year 2022/23.
Read more in the 2023 news release
Commissioned by:
Education and Youth Board
Data sources:
The analysis of employment and income has been carried out on the basis of data on students identified by their personal identification codes in the Estonian Education Information System.
Authors:
Kadri Rootalu, Kaja Sõstra, Tõnu Raitviir
See also:
Report. Economic impact of international students 2022 (only in Estonian).
Read more in the 2022 news release
Report. Economic impact of international students 2021 (only in Estonian).
Read more in the news release.
See also the blog post (only in Estonian).
Presentation. Analysis of the economic impact of international students (only in Estonian).
Report. Economic impact of international students 2020 (only in Estonian).
Read more in the news release.
See also the blog post (only in Estonian).
Presentation. Analysis of the economic impact of international students (only in Estonian).
Report. Economic impact of international students 2019 (only in Estonian).
Read more in the 2019 news release.
See also the 2019 blog post (only in Estonian).