The gender pay gap was over 20 percent in five economic activities, Statistics Estonia analyst Sigrid Saagpakk said in a press release.

These included financial and insurance activities (25.5 percent), information and communication (24.4 percent), wholesale and retail trade, repair of motor vehicles and motorcycles (23.5 percent), human health and social work activities (20.7 percent) and manufacturing (20.2 percent).

Compared with 2023, the gender pay gap in other service activities changed the most, from -18.4 percent in 2023 to 14.8 percent in 2024.

Last year, the gender pay gap was negative only in one activity — transportation and storage, where it stood at -7.1 percent.

"This means that female employees in transportation and storage earned more than male employees," Saagpakk explained.

Some activities also had a small gender pay gap, including water supply, sewerage, waste management and remediation activities (3.6 percent), agriculture, forestry and fishing (5.9 percent), real estate activities (6 percent) as well as public administration and defense, compulsory social security (6.5 percent).

Women averaged €10.67, men €12.29 an hour

"Average gross hourly wages were the highest in information and communication — €21.60 for male and €16.30 for female employees," Saagpakk noted. "In financial and insurance activities, men earned €20.70 and women €15.40 per hour on average."

Gross hourly wages were the lowest, meanwhile, in accommodation and food service activities for both male and female employees — at €8.40 and €7.10, respectively.

The analyst noted that the gender pay gap in Estonia has decreased by 9.7 percentage points since 2011.

"Over the last 13 years, average gross hourly wages have risen by more than €6, specifically by €6.60 for male employees and by €6.30 for female employees," she said.

Ministry: We need to challenge gender stereotypes, increase transparency

"The gender pay gap is an indicator of overall gender equality in society," noted Eva Liina Kliiman, an adviser at the Department of Equality Policies at the Ministry of Economic Affairs and Communications (MKM).

She added that the difference in women's and men's average wages has very real negative consequences, as wages determine people's well-being not just in the present, but in the future as well. The inequality that exists today has a direct impact on various benefits and on pensions, for example.

"To reduce the gender pay gap, we need to diminish the impact of gender stereotypes on the choices and opportunities that women and men have," Kliiman highlighted, adding that there must be greater pay transparency as well.

"It also matters how a society as a whole values and rewards care work, including in education, nursing and healthcare," she continued. "Compensation for work in these areas is largely dependent on political decisions."

Employers can analyze pay gap

MKM and Statistics Estonia have developed a digital tool to help businesses more easily analyze the gender pay gap within their organizations. Called the "Wage Mirror" ("Palgapeegel"), the application is available via the Labor Inspectorate's self-service portal. It draws on existing registry data, and requires no additional input from employers to use.

The gender pay gap is calculated as the difference between the average gross hourly wages of male and female employees divided by the average gross hourly wages of male employees, and is expressed as a percentage. Average gross wages and salaries, as used in the calculation of the gender pay gap, do not include irregular bonuses or performance bonuses.

Gender pay gap data for 2024 was collected via the questionnaire "Gross hourly earnings of male and female employees in October."

Statistics Estonia and Eurostat use different methodologies to calculate the gender pay gap. The gender pay gap published by Eurostat does not take into account the indicators of businesses and institutions with fewer than 10 employees; it also excludes the earnings of employees in agriculture, forestry and fishing as well as in public administration and defense.

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