Wages and salaries and labour costs

For work, people receive pay, or wages and salaries, which is agreed compensation for fulfilling work tasks. In addition to the sum that the employer pays to the employee, the employer pays labour taxes on that sum, which together with the wages constitute labour costs.

Wages are an important source of income, and their main purpose is to cover expenses on dwelling, food, transportation and other basic needs. This is why the law regulates the minimum an employee could be paid for full-time work. The minimum wage is set to protect the well-being of employees.

The statistics on wages and salaries and labour costs provide the following information:

  • what are the average monthly and hourly gross wages in different economic activities;
  • how much the wages differ in counties;
  • whether jobs with higher pay are in the private or public sector;
  • what are hourly wages of employees by occupation, economic activity, level of education, age group, length of employment or type of contract;
  • what are the components of employers’ costs on employees and what is the share of each of these in the total costs;
  • how many vacant posts there are in Estonia, and how many people have changed jobs;
  • how many labour strikes have taken place in Estonia, how long these lasted, and how many people participated;
  • how wide is the gender pay gap in different economic activities.

Statistics on wages and salaries are used to measure labour productivity, observe trends, assess changes in the labour market and make decisions on the national economy.

Median wage 1,524.0 euros
12.6%
2023 Q2
Average monthly gross wages and salaries 1,685 euros
8.9%
2022
14.9 %
2021
Number of occupied posts 606,054
-2.9%
2023 Q2
Number of job vacancies 11,080
-16.9%
2023 Q2
Average monthly gross wages | 1st quarter 2021 – 2nd quarter 2023
Unit: euros
1st quarter 2021 2nd quarter 2021 3rd quarter 2021 4th quarter 2021 1st quarter 2022 2nd quarter 2022 3rd quarter 2022 4th quarter 2022 1st quarter 2023 2nd quarter 2023
Average monthly gross wages (salaries), euros 1,406 1,476 1,463 1,548 1,536 1,667 1,641 1,735 1,741 1,873

Median wage | 1st quarter 2021 – 2nd quarter 2023
Unit: euros
1st quarter 2021 2nd quarter 2021 3rd quarter 2021 4th quarter 2021 1st quarter 2022 2nd quarter 2022 3rd quarter 2022 4th quarter 2022 1st quarter 2023 2nd quarter 2023
Total - all activities 1,158 1,199 1,200 1,270 1,240 1,354 1,349 1,429 1,424 1,524

Average monthly labour cost per employee | 4th quarter 2018 – 4th quarter 2022
Unit: euros
4th quarter 2018 1st quarter 2019 2nd quarter 2019 3rd quarter 2019 4th quarter 2019 1st quarter 2020 2nd quarter 2020 3rd quarter 2020 4th quarter 2020 1st quarter 2021 2nd quarter 2021 3rd quarter 2021 4th quarter 2021 1st quarter 2022 2nd quarter 2022 3rd quarter 2022 4th quarter 2022
Total - all activities 1,855 1,798 1,900 1,870 1,974 1,876 1,815 1,933 2,032 1,960 2,033 2,078 2,179 2,139 2,263 2,247 2,382

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See Statistics Estonia’s 2024 release calendar

Next year's calendar, where policymakers, journalists, and other data enthusiasts can find information on new additions to the database as well as the publication of news, will be available on Statistics Estonia’s website from 29 September.
Read more 29. September 2023
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There were over 11,000 job vacancies in the second quarter

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Read more 5. September 2023