Most of the migrants in 2016 were Estonian citizens, but their net migration was negative.

The most active group of migrants were 20-39-year-olds, while the age group that grew the most due to migration was that of 15-39-year-olds. 60 percent of the migrants were men and 40 percent were women. The net migration of men was four times higher than that of women — 800 more men arrived in Estonia in 2016 than left the country, while just 200 more women arrived than left the country.

The majority of migrants were Estonian citizens, however there were more of them among the emigrants, causing the net migration of Estonian citizens to be negative by 2,000 persons in 2016. The migrants were Estonian citizens ranging from 20-59 years of age, however in net terms, Estonia primarily lost citizens in their 20s.

The number of Ukrainian citizens in Estonia grew the most due to migration, as 850 more Ukrainian citizens arrived in Estonia than left in 2016. In net migration terms, they were followed by citizens of the Russian Federation, Finland and Latvia.

Immigrants to Estonia came primarily from Finland (45 percent of immigrants), Ukraine (11 percent) and Russia (11 percent). 88 percent of immigrants came from elsewhere in Europe, primarily from within the EU. The primary destination country for emigrants from Estonia remained Finland (58 percent), followed by the U.K. (nine percent). 94 percent of emigrants from Estonia emigrated to another European country.

Immigrants arriving from countries outside of Europe had previously lived in the U.S., Australia and India, while the most popular non-European destinations for emigrants leaving Estonia were Australia and the U.S.