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 foreign students mainly go to work, their tax contribution while working in Estonia, both during their studies and after graduation, and in the 2021 analysis, the types of employment and entrepreneurship.
Report. Economic impact of international students 2022 (only in Estonian).
Interesting facts
- More than half (56%) of the international students in Estonia work during their studies; among local students, 86% work during their studies.
- In recent years, there has been a considerable rise in the number of international graduates who stay to work in Estonia after graduation.
- The majority of international graduates who stay in Estonia work in Tallinn.
- In the academic year 2021/22, labour taxes paid for international students working in Estonia amounted to 14 million euros. The previous year’s international graduates contributed 8.4 million euros as income tax.
- The most likely to work while studying are international students in information and communication technologies (ICT), engineering, manufacturing, construction as well as business, administration and law. In the academic year 2021/22, three quarters of international ICT students worked during their studies.
Read more in the 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 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).