Ardo Hansson, former Governor of the Bank of Estonia and current advisor to Prime Minister Kristen Michal (Reform) disagreed with the latest forecast from the Institute of Economic Research calling it "a bit exaggerated."

"This is most definitely not true," Hansson said. "If we look at the statistics, which Eurostat has also published, we are still a long way from that. In Europe as a whole at the moment, they put us in 15th place in terms of our price level, and it is very difficult to move up from there."

Peeter Raudsepp, director of the Estonian Institute of Economic Research, discussed the latest review and forecast of Estonia's economic situation on Tuesday.

According to experts, Estonia's economic climate has shown slight signs of improvement.

However, consumer confidence remains below the long-term average and has declined since the COVID-19 pandemic. Prices continue to rise, both for food and material goods.

"Naturally, our prices are very high compared to our income levels. Compared to the European Union average, we are at 109 percent in terms of food prices, with Finland at 110 percent and Sweden at 105 percent. This puts us on par with Finland and among the top ten in Europe," Raudsepp noted.

"As we move forward, new taxes, including the new VAT rate, will have a significant impact. Where are we headed? We are moving toward becoming one of the five most expensive countries in Europe."

The study was conducted before the government announced new tax increases.

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