Despite this, there was a slowdown in wage growth last year, Statistics Estonia said.

In the fourth quarter of 2025 (Q4 2025), the agency reported average monthly gross wages and salaries of €2,155, which was a rise of 4.5 percent compared with the same quarter of 2024.

Commenting on the results, Krista Vaikmets, leading analyst at Statistics Estonia, said that wage growth actually slowed down in 2025. "Last year, wages and salaries did not grow as fast as in previous years, but monthly gross wages still increased in all counties. The biggest increase was registered in Valga, Põlva, and Rapla counties, where gross wages were up by more than 6.5 percent last year," she said.

Vaikmets added that in 2025 the average monthly gross wages and salaries were the highest in Harju County, which includes Tallinn, at €2,336, rising by 5.3 percent on year there, and in Tartu County (at €2,112), where wages grew by 5.9 percent on year. "Looking at Harju county, the average wages were the highest in Tallinn – €2,451. The average wages were somewhat lower in the rest of Harju county outside of Tallinn – €1,957," said Vaikmets.

Average wages were again highest in ICT

The highest average monthly gross wages and salaries were seen in information and communication (ICT), as in previous years, where the average gross monthly pay packet was €3,651. This was followed by financial and insurance activities (€3,338) and electricity, gas, steam and air conditioning supply, at €2,948, Statistics Estonia says.

Meanwhile, the lowest average wages and salaries were registered in accommodation and food service activities (at €1,333) and other service activities (€1,379) in 2025, though these sectors did see a slight rise too, of 5 percent or slightly more. The greatest rise in average wages was seen in the energy sector, with average wages rising by 9.3 percent in electricity, gas, steam and air conditioning supply, Statistics Estonia noted.

"Average wages grew by 7.4 percent in water supply, sewerage, waste management and remediation activities," Vaikmets added, noting wages also increased in major sectors such as manufacturing (7 percent) and trade (4.9 percent). The wage growth across sectors has stood at around 5 percent.

Employment

Statistics Estonia says that in 2025, there were 592,126 employees, a 1 percent decrease from the previous year. The largest sector was manufacturing, with 100,617 employees, representing 17 percent of the total, followed by wholesale and retail trade (including vehicle repairs) with nearly 87,600 employees, education with almost 65,000, and human health and social work activities with around 49,000 employees.

Statistics Estonia says that the median of gross wages (salaries) is the wage level at which half of the employees earn less and half earn more. In 2025, the median wage was €1,724, which is almost 6 percent higher than the year before. "Median wages have followed a similar trend as average gross wages, both by economic activity and regionally by county," Vaikmets commented.

Q4 2025 average wage €2,155

In Q4 2025, the average monthly gross wages and salaries was reported at €2,155, 4.5 percent higher than in the same quarter of 2024.

"The activities with the highest wages in the fourth quarter were the same as in 2025 as a whole: information and communication, financial and insurance activities, and electricity supply. The wages of employees in these activities were over €3,000, which is significantly higher than the average," Vaikmets said on this.

Regionally, the highest average monthly wages in Q4 2025 were recorded in Tallinn (€2,506), and the lowest average wages in Valga County (€1,615). "Based on where jobs are located, we can say that 55 percent of jobs are currently in Tallinn and Harju counties, and 14 percent of jobs are in Tartu County," Vaikmets said, adding that the situation has been largely unchanged since 2021. "The concentration of jobs in Tallinn and Harju counties has been going on for a long time. A more recent trend is the decline in the number of employees in Ida-Viru County in the last few years."

Average monthly gross wages and salaries are calculated as the ratio between payment and labor contribution. Payment means any monetary consideration paid to an employee, including wages, bonuses, holiday pay and other compensation, as well as interest on arrears, for example. The median of gross wages (salaries) is the wage level at which half of the employees earn less than that level and half earn more than that level.

Statistics Estonia uses data from the employment register of the Tax and Customs Board (MTA) and income and social tax declarations in compiling the above data. People working under employment contracts, in most areas governed by the Civil Service Act, and those under service contracts are included in the survey.

More detailed information is available from Statistics Estonia here, here, and here.

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