According to Statistics Estonia (Statistikaamet), the service sector represented 72% of the EUR 28-billion GDP Estonian economy in 2019 with Harju County accounting for EUR 18 billion of total GDP.
Harju county was followed by Tartu and Ida-Viru counties, which accounted, respectively, for 11% and 6% of Estonia’s gross domestic product (GDP). Hiiu and Polva counties held the smallest shares, as each contributed less than 1% of Estonia’s GDP.
According to Robert Muursepp, leading analyst at Statistics Estonia, the service sector represented 72% of the Estonian economy last year.
“The share of services is often used to assess the maturity of the economy. In Estonia, the share of services has grown consistently and is now the highest ever recorded for this sector in Estonia,” Muursepp noted.
The cities of Tallinn and Tartu were the main contributors in the service sector and, as a result, services accounted for 80% of the value added in Harju county and for 72% in Tartu county. The share of services was the lowest in Ida-Viru (41%) and Laane-Viru (42%) counties.
In 2019, industry and construction accounted for a quarter of the Estonian economy, down by 2% YoY. The decrease was caused by the rising share of services as well as by a good year in agriculture, which led to a significant increase in the share of the agricultural sector in the Estonian economy.
The share of industry was the largest in Ida-Viru county (58%), primarily due to the energy sector. Laane-Viru county also stands out with a 47% share of the industrial sector. The share of industry and construction was the smallest in Harju (20%), Polva (24%) and Tartu (25%) counties. In Harju and Tartu counties, it can be explained by the large share of the service sector, while agriculture was a key contributor in Polva county.
The share of agriculture in gross value added was 3%. The agricultural sector held the largest share in Viljandi (18%) and Jogeva (18%) counties, and the smallest share in Harju county (0.5%).
In 2019, GDP per capita was EUR 21,186, up by EUR 1,566 YoY. GDP per capita was the biggest in Harju county, where it was 43% higher than the Estonian average. Harju county was followed by Tartu and Saare counties where GDP per capita was, respectively, 91% and 67% of the Estonian average. The smallest GDP per capita was recorded in Polva county at 39% of the Estonian average.
Each year, the differences between counties diminish. Over the last four years, Hiiu, Jorva, Rapla and Tartu counties have made the fastest progress towards the Estonian average. The decreasing gap between Harju county and the Estonian average shows that the rest of Estonia is also getting closer to Harju county. (ERR/Business World Magazine)