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Household Budget Survey

Area
What kind of survey is it? The Household Budget Survey provides information about the expenditures and living conditions of Estonian households, about household composition and the demographic and social characteristics of household members. The Household Budget Survey is one of the oldest surveys in Estonia – the first statistical survey on this topic was conducted already in 1925. The current survey methodology has been used since 2010. The survey consists of a household questionnaire and a personal questionnaire (for all household members aged 15 and over) and an expense diary. Who

Statistics Estonia uses a new methodology to calculate the consumer price index

Kuupäev 26.02.2026
Article
“People’s consumption habits change, technology evolves, and more and more data become available. Statistics Estonia must keep up with these developments, and we must continuously update our methodologies,” explained Urmet Lee, the Director General of Statistics Estonia. The methodological changes introduced in January concern food products and electricity. “Good cooperation with electricity providers and retail chains now allows us to calculate the consumer price index in Estonia more accurately than ever before. It means that a quarter of the data for the consumer basket are now obtained

GDP flash estimate: economy grew by 1% in Q4

Kuupäev 30.01.2026
Article
Robert Müürsepp, the National Accounts Service Manager at Statistics Estonia, said that the flash estimate indicates a slight improvement in the economy compared with the fourth quarter of 2024, while the trend was unchanged compared with the third quarter of 2025. “The seasonally and working-day adjusted GDP remained at the same level as in the third quarter,” added Müürsepp. What is the flash estimate of GDP? The official data on GDP for the fourth quarter of 2025 will be published on 2 March, but it is possible to assess the overall economic trend based on the information already available

Cultural Participation Survey

Area
What kind of survey is it? The Cultural Participation Survey collects information on the cultural interests, consumption of culture, and hobbies of Estonian residents. The aim of the survey is to provide objective statistics for the setting of cultural policy objectives in various domains of culture. Who commissions the survey? For the survey, the main representative of public interest is the Ministry of Culture. Why are the data needed? The Cultural Participation Survey is the only major cultural survey in Estonia. The results of the survey reveal which fields of culture people are interested

HICP flash estimate: prices up by 0.9% in August

Kuupäev 02.09.2025
Article
The consumer price index uses weights reflecting the average expenditure structure of Estonian residents, while the harmonised index of consumer prices also takes into account the expenditures of tourists and is comparable to the international HICP. Lauri Veski, team lead of consumer price statistics at Statistics Estonia, said that according to preliminary estimates, prices rose in all major sectors in August. “The only sector to see a decline in prices was food service and accommodation, driven by accommodation services,” Veski added. The consumer price index data for August will be

The unemployment rate was 7.5% last year

Kuupäev 16.02.2026
Article
Tea Vassiljeva, analyst at Statistics Estonia, explained that the unemployment rate, i.e. the share of the unemployed in the labour force, was 7.5% last year, which is just 0.1 percentage points lower than in 2024. In 2025, the average number of the unemployed was 56,200 – this is down by 900 from the year before. Unemployment grew the most among young men “Unemployment decreased among women but increased among men. Women’s unemployment rate, which was 7.5% in 2024, dropped to 6.6% in 2025. As for men, their unemployment rate grew by 0.7 percentage points compared with 2024 and reached 8.3% as

At-risk-of-poverty rate down, absolute poverty rate up in Estonia

Kuupäev 06.11.2025
Article
The news release was corrected on 11 March 2026. The corrections are marked in red. Epp Remmelg, leading analyst at Statistics Estonia, said that the at-risk-of-poverty rate reflects income inequality in a country. “People at risk of poverty are not living in outright deprivation, but they cannot afford the standard of living that is considered normal in society,” the analyst noted. In 2024, close to 263,200 people lived at risk of poverty, which is nearly 11,600 fewer than in 2023. Their net monthly income, taking into account household composition, i.e. the equivalised disposable income, was

The gender pay gap is the largest in financial and insurance activities

Kuupäev 24.04.2025
Article
Sigrid Saagpakk, analyst at Statistics Estonia, explained that the gender pay gap was over 20% in five economic activities: financial and insurance activities (25.5%), information and communication (24.4%), wholesale and retail trade, repair of motor vehicles and motorcycles (23.5%), human health and social work activities (20.7%), and manufacturing (20.2%). Compared with 2023, the gender pay gap in other service activities changed the most, from −18.4% in 2023 to 14.8% in 2024. Last year, the gender pay gap was negative only in one activity – transportation and storage (−7.1%). “It means that