Sigrid Saagpakk, analyst at Statistics Estonia, said that in the average monthly gross wages and salaries were the highest in Tallinn in Q1 2025 at €2,384 per month gross, followed by the rest of Harju County (at €2,263 per month) and Tartu County (€2,023).

"Compared with the first quarter of last year, the largest rises in wages was seen in Tartu (of 7.2 percent) and Ida-Viru (6.9 percent) counties. The rise in average monthly wages was the slowest in Harju county, excluding Tallinn – 4.8 percent," Saagpakk noted.

Additionally, the average monthly gross wages and salaries in Q1 2025 were €475 higher than in Q1 2022. "In the last three years, the average wages in the first quarter have grown by roughly 31 percent," Saagpakk added.

In terms of industry sectors, average wages were still highest in information and communication (ICT) at €3,605 per month gross, followed by financial and insurance activities (€3,344) and electricity, gas, steam and air conditioning supply (€2,714 ).

Meanwhile: "The lowest average wages and salaries were registered in accommodation and food service activities at €1,285," Saagpakk said.

"The rise in average gross wages was the greatest in electricity supply (8.7 percent) and water supply (8.0 percent)," she added.

The above figures refer to mean wages. As for the median gross wage, i.e., that point at which half of employees earn less than that level and half earn more, nationally the figure was €1,649 in the first quarter of this year and rose by about €100 year on year.

The largest number of employees – 99,500 – were at work in manufacturing in Q1 2025, accounting for 17 percent of all employees. This was followed by wholesale and retail trade (including repair of motor vehicles and motorcycles) with nearly 87,100 employees, education with almost 64,500 employees, and human health and social work activities with close to 48,500 employees.

Since the first quarter of 2023, Statistics Estonia has utilized data from the employment register of the Tax and Customs Board and the income and social tax declarations to publish the average wages and salaries. People working under employment contracts, the Civil Service Act*, and service contracts are included.

*Which excludes employees in the Ministry of Defense and the Ministry of the Interior areas of governance.

More detailed information from Statistics Estonia is here.

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