Harju county was followed by Tartu and Ida-Viru counties which accounted, respectively, for 11 percent and 6 percent of Estonia's gross domestic product (GDP). Hiiu and Põlva counties held the smallest shares, as each contributed less than one percent of Estonia's GDP.

According to Robert Müürsepp, leading analyst at Statistics Estonia, the service sector represented 72 percent of the Estonian economy last year. "The share of services is often used to assess the maturity of the economy. In Estonia, the share of services has grown consistently and is now the highest ever recorded for this sector in Estonia," Müürsepp noted.

The cities of Tallinn and Tartu were the main contributors in the service sector and, as a result, services accounted for 80 percent of the value added in Harju county and for 72 percent in Tartu county. The share of services was the lowest in Ida-Viru (41 percent) and Lääne-Viru (42 percent) counties.

In 2019, industry and construction accounted for a quarter of the Estonian economy, which means a decrease by 2 percentage points year on year. The decrease was caused by the rising share of services as well as by a good year in agriculture, which led to a significant increase in the share of the agricultural sector in the Estonian economy.

The share of industry was the largest in Ida-Viru county (58 percent), primarily due to the energy sector. Lääne-Viru county also stands out with a 47 percent share of the industrial sector. The share of industry and construction was the smallest in Harju (20 percent), Põlva (24 percent) and Tartu (25 percent) counties. In Harju and Tartu counties, it can be explained by the large share of the service sector, while agriculture was a key contributor in Põlva county.

The share of agriculture in gross value added was 3 percent. The agricultural sector held the largest share in Viljandi (18 percent) and Jõgeva (18 percent) counties, and the smallest share in Harju county (0.5 percent).

In 2019, GDP per capita was €21,186, which is €1,566 more than the year before. GDP per capita was the biggest in Harju county, where it was 43 percentage points higher than the Estonian average. Harju county was followed by Tartu and Saare counties where GDP per capita was, respectively, 91 percent and 67 percent of the Estonian average. The smallest GDP per capita was recorded in Põlva county at 39 percent of the Estonian average.

Each year, the differences between counties diminish. Over the last four years, Hiiu, Järva, Rapla and Tartu counties have made the fastest progress towards the Estonian average. The decreasing gap between Harju county and the Estonian average shows that the rest of Estonia is also getting closer to Harju county.

For more specific data, visit the Statistics Estonia webpage.

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