Gender pay gap continues to be present in all economic activities

In October 2018, the gross hourly earnings of female employees were 18.7% lower than the gross hourly earnings of male employees. The gender pay gap decreased by 2.2 percentage points compared to the same period in 2017.

The gender pay gap decreased the most in professional, scientific and technical activities – by 6.3 percentage points. The gender pay gap increased in many activities. The biggest increase took place in other service activities (incl activities of membership organisations, repair of household goods, beauty treatment).

The gender pay gap is calculated as the difference between the average gross hourly earnings of male and female employees, divided by the average gross hourly earnings of male employees, and is expressed as a percentage. The average gross earnings, as used in the calculation of the gender pay gap, do not include irregular bonuses and premiums.

Statistics Estonia conducts the survey “Structure of Earnings” every four years for October. The data of the survey reflect the number of employees, structure and earnings by occupation, economic activity, age, sex, type of contract, full-time and part-time work and education. In the years between two “Structure of Earnings” surveys, data are only collected about the number of male and female employees, the number of hours worked and the earnings.

Statistics Estonia and Eurostat use different methodologies to calculate the gender pay gap. The gender pay gap published by Eurostat does not take into account the indicators of enterprises and institutions with fewer than 10 employees; it also excludes the earnings of employees in agriculture, forestry and fishing and in public administration and defence.