Estonian residents travelled less last year

Piret Pukk, leading analyst at Statistics Estonia, said that while Estonian residents have been travelling more in the post-pandemic years, they did less travelling in 2025. “Last year, the number of overnight domestic trips was still more than two times bigger than the number of outbound trips. Compared with 2024, the number of domestic trips decreased in each quarter. The number of outbound trips declined for three quarters and then started to rise again in the fourth quarter,” said Pukk, adding that this can be explained by the significant increase in charter flights, as shown by the data of Tallinn Airport.

Over half of all trips were holiday trips

The main destinations for outbound trips were European Union (EU) countries where Estonian residents made 1.1 million trips last year (72% of outbound overnight trips). “The most popular foreign destinations were again Finland (11%), Latvia (10%) and Spain (8%). Turkey (6%) was the top destination among non-EU countries,” said Pukk. In 2025, Estonian residents made fewer trips to Italy, Sweden and Lithuania, for example.

“The most favoured domestic destinations were Harju county (including Tallinn), Tartu county and Pärnu county. These were followed by Ida-Viru, Saare, Lääne, Lääne-Viru and Viljandi counties,” she added.
Last year, over half of all trips were made for holidays. Holiday trips accounted for 54% of domestic and 64% of outbound trips. The share of business trips was 13% and 19% of domestic and outbound trips, respectively. The remaining trips were made for other personal purposes, such as visiting friends and family.

“Overnight domestic trips are usually short, lasting for just a few days, and outbound trips tend to be longer. 91% of overnight domestic trips were for one to three nights. Only 9% of domestic trips lasted longer. In the case of outbound trips, 37% of these were for one to three nights and 39% were for four to seven nights,” noted Pukk. The share of trips with a duration over 7 nights was 24%, i.e. exactly the same as in 2024.

Spending on outbound trips increased

Last year, Estonian residents who travelled abroad mostly stayed in rented accommodation (79%, or 7.5 million nights spent) – this includes 4.9 million nights in hotels or similar establishments, and almost 2.5 million nights in other rented accommodation. Nearly 2 million nights on outbound trips were spent in non-rented accommodation, which usually means staying with friends or relatives.

Pukk explained that, during domestic trips, people are more likely to use non-rented accommodation, such as staying with friends or family or at their own holiday home. Last year, non-rented accommodation was used for nearly 3.6 million nights during domestic trips, which represented 58% of all nights spent on domestic trips. Rented accommodation was used for 2.6 million nights on domestic trips, with 1.6 million of these nights spent in hotels or similar establishments.

In recent years, the average expenditure on an outbound overnight trip has been more than 1,000 euros. In 2025, Estonian residents spent 1,118 euros on average on an overnight outbound trip, which is 1% more than in 2024. Last year, the average expenditure on an overnight domestic trip was 163 euros, down by 12% from the year before. “The decreased expenditure on domestic trips is probably due to the fact that people are trying to spend less and look for cheaper alternatives when travelling,” explained Pukk. On outbound overnight trips, transport accounted for 36% and accommodation for 30% of the estimated expenditure. 21% of the total trip cost was spent on food and drinks in cafés and restaurants, and 13% was spent on other expenses, including entertainment and shopping. On overnight domestic trips, transport accounted for 25% and accommodation for 30% of the expenditure. 29% of the trip cost was spent on food and drinks in cafés and restaurants, and 15% was spent on other expenses, including entertainment and shopping.

Data on the travelling of Estonian residents are collected with the Tourism Survey. The survey is commissioned by Eurostat. The aim is to collect information on travelling done by Estonian residents and to obtain objective tourism statistics comparable between European countries. The data are used to analyse travelling trends and to assess the situation and challenges in the tourism sector. The survey sample includes 2,500 people each quarter. The survey population consists of permanent residents of Estonia aged 15 and over living in private households. 

In the Tourism Survey, the statistical unit is a trip made by an individual. Tourism is defined as the movement of people outside their usual environment for up to 12 months. Trips related to working abroad for more than one year or working as part of the crew in international transport (e.g. crew members on a cruise ship, long-distance drivers) are not considered tourism. 

Data as at 27 March 2026 are published. The indicator values may change if there are any revisions made in the data sources after this date.

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More detailed data have been published in the statistical database.

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For further information:
Silvia Uus
Team Manager
Communications and Marketing Service Team
Statistics Estonia
Tel +372 5196 9617
press [at] stat.ee

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