Lowest-ever gender pay gap recorded in Estonia last year
According to Statistics Estonia, in 2025, the gross hourly earnings of female employees were 12.2% smaller than the hourly earnings of male employees. The gender pay gap decreased by one percentage point year on year and was the narrowest ever.
“In 2025, average gross hourly wages were 13 euros for men and 11.4 euros for women, meaning that women’s wages were 12.2% lower. This means that the gender pay gap in Estonia was the narrowest ever,” said Krista Vaikmets, leading analyst at Statistics Estonia. She added that the gender pay gap has decreased by 10.7 percentage points in the last 15 years.
Wage inequality is the greatest in financial and insurance activities
Looking at individual economic activities, the indicators vary. “In 2025, the gender pay gap was the biggest in financial and insurance activities (23.6%), wholesale and retail trade (22.2%), manufacturing (21.4%) and human health and social work activities (20.8%),” said Vaikmets.
The gender pay gap in information and communication has decreased considerably in recent years and reached the lowest level of the last few years. “While the data collected by Statistics Estonia do not reveal the specific reasons for the changes in the gender pay gap, we can assume that one of the contributing factors has been the provision of engineering and IT-related training and retraining programmes for women. Traditionally, women are more likely to specialise in humanities and social fields, and men more often choose technical and IT specialities where pay levels are higher than average,” explained Vaikmets. She noted that as more women reach senior positions in such technical fields where wages are higher, this could have a diminishing effect on the overall gender pay gap.
There are three economic activities in Estonia where female employees have higher hourly wages than male employees: transportation and storage (−15.4%), real estate activities (−12.4%) and other service activities (−2.3%).
The gender pay gap was also below 5% in professional, scientific and technical activities, in water supply, sewerage, waste management and remediation activities, and in construction.
Gender pay gap, 2011–2025
| Gender pay gap, % | |
|---|---|
| 2011 | 22.9 |
| 2012 | 24.6 |
| 2013 | 24.8 |
| 2014 | 23.5 |
| 2015 | 22.2 |
| 2016 | 20.9 |
| 2017 | 20.9 |
| 2018 | 18.0 |
| 2019 | 17.1 |
| 2020 | 15.6 |
| 2021 | 14.9 |
| 2022 | 17.5 |
| 2023 | 13.1 |
| 2024 | 13.2 |
| 2025 | 12.2 |
Average gross hourly wages were 11.40 euros for women and 13 euros for men
Average gross hourly earnings were the highest in information and communication and in financial and insurance activities – 21.6 euros for male employees and 18.4 and 16.9 euros, respectively, for female employees. “The gender pay gap is the widest in financial and insurance activities where women’s hourly wages are 5.2 euros lower than men’s hourly wages. In information and communication, the gender gap in hourly earnings is 3.7 euros,” said Vaikmets.
Gross hourly wages were again the lowest in accommodation and food service activities – 8.6 euros for male and 7.5 euros for female employees.
Over the last 15 years, gross hourly earnings have increased by 7 euros, specifically by 7.3 euros for men and by 7 euros for women.
Gross hourly wages and salaries of male and female employees, 2011–2025
| Gross hourly wages and salaries of males | Gross hourly wages and salaries of females | |
|---|---|---|
| 2011 | 5.7 | 4.4 |
| 2012 | 5.7 | 4.3 |
| 2013 | 6.1 | 4.6 |
| 2014 | 6.4 | 4.9 |
| 2015 | 7.0 | 5.4 |
| 2016 | 7.6 | 6.0 |
| 2017 | 7.9 | 6.3 |
| 2018 | 7.9 | 6.5 |
| 2019 | 8.6 | 7.1 |
| 2020 | 9.1 | 7.7 |
| 2021 | 10.0 | 8.5 |
| 2022 | 11.5 | 9.5 |
| 2023 | 11.8 | 10.3 |
| 2024 | 12.3 | 10.7 |
| 2025 | 13.0 | 11.4 |
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 it is expressed as a percentage. The average gross earnings, as used in the calculation of the gender pay gap, do not include irregular bonuses or premiums.
The data are collected from Estonian enterprises, institutions and organisations with at least one employee. In the years when the “Structure of earnings” survey is conducted (most recently for reference year 2022), the gender pay gap is based on data from that survey. In the years between two “Structure of earnings” surveys, Statistics Estonia collects the necessary data with the questionnaire "Gross hourly earnings of male and female employees in October" covering the following data on men and women: the number of employees, the number of hours worked, and remuneration for time actually worked. October is the reference month for both surveys.
The 2025 data on the gender pay gap were collected with the questionnaire “Gross hourly earnings of male and female employees in October”. In 2025, the survey sample included 3,806 enterprises. 3,444 enterprises completed the survey, with the response rate being 90.5%.
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.
Data as at 23 April 2026 are published. The indicator values may change if there are any revisions made in the data sources after this date.
More detailed data have been published in the statistical database.
When using Statistics Estonia’s data and graphs, please indicate the source.
For further information:
Annaliisa Köss
Media Relations Partner
Marketing and Dissemination Department
Statistics Estonia
Tel +372 5696 6484