PHC 2011: Almost 25,000 Estonian residents go to work abroad
According to the data of the 2011 Population and Housing Census (PHC 2011), 24,907 permanent residents of Estonia – 4.4% of all employed persons – go to work abroad. 28,984 residents work outside their county of residence.
"Compared to the previous census, one of the biggest changes has occurred in the number of residents working abroad. This number has increased almost tenfold since the previous census," said Ms Diana Beltadze, Project Manager of the 2011 Population and Housing Census. According to the 2000 census, 2,646 residents were working abroad.
According to PHC 2011, 15,140 permanent residents of Estonia work in Finland, 1,872 in Norway, 1,532 in Sweden, 1,357 in Russia, 732 in the United Kingdom and 616 in Germany. “61% of the Estonian residents working abroad work in Finland. The share of residents working in Finland is the biggest in Jõgeva, Viljandi and Pärnu counties,” said Ms Beltadze. Russia is an important labour migration destination for residents of Ida-Viru county (especially Narva city), while Sweden is a major destination mainly for the employed persons of Hiiu county.
Two pull centres
In case of internal labour migration, the main pull centres are Harju county (incl. Tallinn city) and Tartu county (incl. Tartu city), which have positive net labour migration. In most counties, almost 80% of the employed persons have found work in their home county. Rapla county has the biggest share of residents working outside their home county.
Harju county is the primary labour migration destination for employed persons residing in Rapla county (25.40%), Lääne county (9.68%), Järva county (8.07%), Lääne-Viru county (6.57%), Pärnu county (3.95%), Saare county (3.80%), Ida-Viru county (3.44%) and Viljandi county (3.43%).
Tartu county is the primary labour migration destination for the residents of Jõgeva county (9.73%), Põlva county (9.68%), Valga county (7.26%) and Võru county (2.82%).
Map 1. Ten biggest labour migration flows according to PHC 2011
The results of PHC 2011 regarding the labour migration of the population can be found in Statistics Estonia’s database. The results of PHC 2011 will be published over the course of 2012 and 2013. The schedule of publication can be found at www.REL2011.ee.
The 11th population census in Estonia was conducted from 31 December 2011 until 31 March 2012. Previous censuses were carried out in 1881, 1897, 1922, 1934, 1941, 1959, 1970, 1979, 1989 and 2000. The next population census will be conducted in Estonia in 2020/2021.