Unemployment rose 16,000 to 47,900, or by 6.8%, between 2019 and 2020, state agency Statistics Estonia reported, with short-term (less than half a year unemployed) joblessness making up the bulk of that figure. Labor force participation rate stood at 71.6%, while the employment rate was 66.7%. Katriin Polluaar, analyst at Statistics Estonia, said the majority…
Estonia’s economy will grow by 2.6 % in 2021, the European Commission has forecast. The figures represent a climb-down from 6.2% predicted for 2021 last summer, and also depends on a gradual reduction in coronavirus restrictions. The commission said last year the economy contracted by 2.9%, again a lower figure than forecast in summer 2020,…
The government is planning to go ahead with the privatization of Operail and the proposal will likely be put before the government in March, Estonia’s minister of economic affairs and infrastructure Taavi Aas has said during parliament’s question time. The minister said he could see no reason why one could not be moving forward with…
Passenger ferry line TS Laevad, which operated routes between the Estonian mainland and its major islands, said passenger numbers were down by 19% YoY in January. The line, a subsidiary of the state-owned firm the Port of Tallinn, carried 94,896 passengers in January, while vehicle volumes fell by 7%, to 55,503 vehicles. TS Laevad board…
Foreign tourists spent EUR 1 billion euros less in Estonia last year than they did in 2019 after the collapse of the tourism industry caused by COVID-19, data from the Bank of Estonia showed. In 2020, foreign tourists spent EUR 410 million in Estonia, down by EUR 1 billion euros YoY. Only a third of…
In January, the consumer price index, which expressed the change in the prices of consumer goods and services, rose by 0.2% YoY, state agency Statistics Estonia reported. In addition, goods were 0.8% cheaper than in January 2020, while services were 2% more expensive. Viktoria Trasanov, leading analyst at Statistics Estonia, said that compared to January…
Registered unemployment in Estonia increased to 8.3% in December 2020 with the largest rate of unemployment present in Ida-Viru County. The most common for unemployed persons registering with the Unemployment Insurance Fund (Tootukassa) last year was layoffs. In 2020, the fund registered a total of 110,942 unemployed people, up by 30.6% YoY. There were 87,877…