PHC 2011: three quarters of the inhabitants are native population

The native population are the people whose parents (or one parent) and at least one grandparent were born in Estonia. According to the data of the Census, the number of native population in Estonia is 972,894. 12.7% of the population of Estonia belongs to the first generation of foreign-origin population (they and their parents were born abroad), 7.6% to the second generation (they were born in Estonia, but their parents abroad) and 4% to the third generation (they and at least one of their parents were born in Estonia, but their grandparents were born abroad). In case of 0.5% of the population their origin was not detected.

90% of the native population are Estonians and 98% have Estonian citizenship. Over 95% of the native population can speak the Estonian language. The average age of the native population is 39 years.

Among foreign-origin population, Estonians account for more than 8%. They include the descendants of ethnic Estonians having lived abroad as well as people with no Estonian roots, but who have adapted culturally in Estonia and feel as Estonians.

The people of foreign-origin population of the first generation are mostly elderly (the average age 60 years) and the majority of them have lived in Estonia for decades. 69% of them are Russians, 5% Estonians and 26% representatives of other, mainly of the population from the former Soviet Union republics (Ukrainians, Byelorussians, etc.). Among them there are also people who have immigrated to Estonia during the past years. Among the foreign-origin people of the first generation, a third are with Estonian and 38% with Russian citizenship, 22% are with undetermined citizenship. 34% of the foreign-origin population of the first generation can speak the Estonian language and 5% considers Estonian their mother tongue.

The foreign-origin population of the second generation are mainly middle-aged (the average age 41 years). 76% of them are Russians, 12% Estonians and 12% representatives of other ethnic nationalities. Among them 53% are with Estonian and 16% with Russian citizenship, 29% are with undetermined citizenship. 58% of the foreign-origin population of the second generation can speak the Estonian language and 10% considers Estonian their mother tongue.

The representatives of the third generation of the foreign-origin population are the youngest – their average age is 25 years, 27% are under 15 years of age. As concerns the ethnicity, they are the most homogeneous – 82% of them are Russians, 11% Estonians and 7% representatives of other ethnic nationalities. Most of them (68%) are with Estonian citizenship, 19% are with undetermined citizenship. With regard to the command of the Estonian language, they do not differ significantly from the second generation – 57% of them can speak Estonian, 8% considers Estonian their mother tongue.

More detailed data can be found in the Statistical Database.

The schedule of publication of the results of PHC 2011 is available on the website www.stat.ee/phc2011.

The eleventh Population Census in Estonia was conducted from 31 December 2011 until 31 March 2012. Previous censuses were carried out in 1881, 1897, 1922, 1934, 1941, 1959, 1970, 1979, 1989 and 2000. The next Population Census in Estonia will be conducted in 2020/2021.