Last year, international students and graduates in Estonia paid more in labor taxes than ever before – a total of EUR 16 million, data from Statistics Estonia showed.
Kadri Rootalu, data scientist at Statistics Estonia and the author of the analysis, said the number of international students in Estonia decreased, but they still accounted for 11.6% of the total number of students.
Due to pandemic-related restrictions, there was a considerable decline in the number of international students working in accommodation and food service activities.
The majority worked in information and communication and educational institutions.
“Compared to local students, international students were more likely to work in start-ups: 15% of working international students did so compared to 3% of working local students,” explained Rootalu.
The analysis also looked at the amount international students contributed to the Estonian economy in taxes paid on their work income. In the academic year 2020-2021, they paid EUR 3.6 million in income tax and EUR 7.8 million in social tax, up by more than a million euros.
The total tax receipts from international students who graduated in the academic year 2019-2020 and continued working in Estonia was EUR 4.5 million.
Eero Loonurm, head of the Study in Estonia program at the Education and Youth Authority, foresees an even greater role of international graduates in the future.
“The most likely to benefit from the economic impact of international students and graduates are international businesses in Tallinn and to a lesser extent in Tartu where the working language is English. The analysis also reveals that it would be important to develop measures to help international students acquire internships in the public sector. In the developed world, international students are considered a part of the talent policies of central and local government institutions. We should seek solutions to make sure that the benefit provided by international students would extend across the whole country,” said Loonurm. (ERR/Business World Magazine)
