Ministry: Alar Karis highest paid public sector wage earner in 2025
President Alar Karis topped the public sector pay table in 2025, taking in €115,118 gross.
The Ministry of Finance on Friday published state and local government officials' pay scales for 2025, when public service pay rose by 5.7 percent.
The head of state was tied with Chief Justice Villu Kõve as the highest public sector wage earner last year; the pair were followed by the Chairman of the Tallinn Circuit Court Kristjan Siigur, who took in €108,737.
Next in the rankings was Prime Minister Kristen Michal (Reform), who received €107,394 in wages in 2025.
The Director General of the Tax and Customs Board, Raigo Uukkivi, was just behind, earning €105,848 including bonuses, while chair of the Supreme Court Administrative Chamber Ivo Pilving was paid €105,215 last year.
Among local government members, then Mayor of Tallinn Jevgeni Ossinovski (SDE) earned the highest sum in 2025, at €107,112.
Among Tallinn's deputy mayors, Kristjan Järvan (Isamaa) was highest paid for the year at €96,334.
The full list of public sector pay is here (link in Estonian), but other noteworthy entries include National Audit Office (Riigikontroll) director Janar Holm (€98,122), Justice Chancellor Ülle Madise (€98,111), Ministry of Foreign Affairs Secretary General Jonatan Vseviov (€94,156), Police and Border Guard Board director Egert Belitšev (€92,676) and Minister of Culture Heidy Purga (€90,902).
A total of 138,568 people worked in the public sector in 2025 (including teachers, doctors, rescue workers and others), according to the finance ministry's preliminary data. Of these, 28,314 were employed in public services (primarily state and local government officials), a slight fall of 142 from the figure for 2024.
Wage growth in the private sector at 5.8 percent for 2025 slightly outstripped that of the public sector, the finance ministry reported.
--
Editor: Andrew Whyte
