The average salary for healthcare workers increased across all major occupational groups in 2025, according to a wage survey conducted by the National Institute for Health Development (TAI).

The average gross hourly wage, including regular bonuses, was €31.01 for doctors, €15.66 for nurses and midwives and €9.79 for caregivers. Over the year, doctors' hourly wages rose by 8 percent, nurses' and midwives' by 5 percent and caregivers' by 3 percent. However, the annual growth rate for gross hourly wages has slowed compared to the previous year.

Base hourly wages made up 82 percent of doctors' total hourly earnings, 86 percent for nurses and midwives and 81 percent for caregivers. Year-on-year, base hourly pay increased by 7 percent for doctors and by 8 percent for both nurses, midwives and caregivers.

As of March 2025, the median monthly salary, including all bonuses, was €5,115 for doctors, €2,688 for nurses and midwives and €1,701 for caregivers. Annual increases were 12 percent for doctors, 12 percent for nurses and midwives and 6 percent for caregivers. Still, the pace of median wage growth has also slowed.

The median monthly salary in Estonia during the first quarter of 2025 was €1,649, up 6 percent year-over-year. Median salaries for doctors, nurses and midwives thus outpaced the national average. Doctors' median salary was three times the national median, while nurses and midwives earned nearly double.

While the share of bonuses in the total monthly pay has declined over the past year for nurses, midwives and caregivers, it has grown for doctors over the past two years. This suggests a rise in the share of performance-based pay for doctors, partly due to an increased workload. Bonuses accounted for 24 percent of doctors' monthly pay in 2025, up from 20 percent a few years ago.

As of March 2025, the minimum hourly wage under the healthcare workers' collective agreement was €19.67 for doctors and €21.40 for specialists. The minimum was €12 for nurses and allied health professionals, €12.45 for specialized nurses and midwives and €7.60 for caregivers. These base rates rose by an average of about 10 percent over the year.

Although most healthcare workers earn more than the minimums set in the collective agreement, some still fall below the threshold. Among doctors, around one in ten earns less than the established minimum.

Oral surgeons top the earners list

Oral and maxillofacial surgeons are currently the highest-paid medical specialists in Estonia, earning an average monthly salary of €9,463 as of March, according to data from the National Institute for Health Development. Their pay has nearly doubled over the past five years, rising by 95 percent since 2020.

They are followed by neurosurgeons, whose salaries have grown by 75 percent to €8,160 per month, and cardiovascular surgeons specializing in vascular surgery who earn an average of €7,623. Ophthalmologists now make €7,592 per month, an 87 percent increase from five years ago, while orthodontists earn €7,588 — a modest 17 percent rise over the same period but a drop in their ranking compared with previous years.

Several other medical specialties also earn more than €7,000 per month, including radiology, anesthesiology and intensive care, nephrology, cardiology and thoracic surgery.

Among nurses, oncology nurses are the highest paid, with an average monthly salary of €3,318. Anesthesiology and intensive care nurses follow closely at €3,305 and emergency medicine nurses earn €3,236 per month. Each of these nursing fields has seen significant pay growth over the past five years, with oncology nurses' salaries up by 89 percent, anesthesiology nurses' by 69 percent and emergency medicine nurses' by 61 percent.

Regionally, Tartu remains the top-paying area for healthcare professionals. Doctors in Tartu earn an average of €6,839 per month, the highest in the country. Nurses and midwives also receive the best pay there, followed by those working in Hiiumaa and Tallinn.

At the other end of the scale, doctors in Jõgeva County earn the least, with an average monthly salary of €4,228, followed by those in Rapla County at €4,574. Although Jõgeva's doctors remain the lowest paid, their average wage has still risen by 67 percent over the past five years. Among nurses, those in Lääne County have the lowest average pay, at €2,411 per month.

Across Estonia, the average gross salary in the first quarter of this year was €2,011 per month, up 6 percent from the same period last year. In 2020, the national average salary stood at €1,448 per month.

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