Estonia - Statistics & Facts
Located in Eastern Europe, between Latvia and Russia, lies Estonia. Accounting for only 1.3 million inhabitants, Estonia has been reporting a negative population growth over the last decade. Its fertility rate shows a corresponding slight decrease as well. The largest city is its capital, Tallinn, with about 410,000 inhabitants, almost one third of all Estonians.
Estonia was part of the Soviet Union bloc until 1991, when it regained its freedom with the collapse of the Soviet Union. The official language is Estonian, spoken by more than two-thirds of the country. Due to Estonia being under Russian authority until the early 90s, almost one third of the population speaks Russian. It is a parliamentary republic and is divided into 15 counties. In addition, Estonia has been a NATO and EU member since 2004, and has officially adopted the euro as its national currency in January 2011.
Estonia’s GDP growth rate has been all over the place in the last few years. The main reason for this is an economic collapse in 2013, mainly due to the European Union recession happening at that time. Around 2016, GDP growth slumped, but estimates see it stabilizing at about 3 percent in the near future. The country's unemployment rate was through the roof in 2010, but had declined again by 2015 - however, it is expected to rise again significantly, almost reaching 10 percent by 2020.
The largest economic sector is the services industry, which contributes roughly 70 percent to the country’s GDP. The industry sector, such as electronics manufacturing and communications, accounts for almost a third of Estonia’s gross domestic product. Among the most important export and import partners, the Nordic countries Sweden and Finland are responsible for most of the state's exports, and imports, respectively.
Estonia was part of the Soviet Union bloc until 1991, when it regained its freedom with the collapse of the Soviet Union. The official language is Estonian, spoken by more than two-thirds of the country. Due to Estonia being under Russian authority until the early 90s, almost one third of the population speaks Russian. It is a parliamentary republic and is divided into 15 counties. In addition, Estonia has been a NATO and EU member since 2004, and has officially adopted the euro as its national currency in January 2011.
Estonia’s GDP growth rate has been all over the place in the last few years. The main reason for this is an economic collapse in 2013, mainly due to the European Union recession happening at that time. Around 2016, GDP growth slumped, but estimates see it stabilizing at about 3 percent in the near future. The country's unemployment rate was through the roof in 2010, but had declined again by 2015 - however, it is expected to rise again significantly, almost reaching 10 percent by 2020.
The largest economic sector is the services industry, which contributes roughly 70 percent to the country’s GDP. The industry sector, such as electronics manufacturing and communications, accounts for almost a third of Estonia’s gross domestic product. Among the most important export and import partners, the Nordic countries Sweden and Finland are responsible for most of the state's exports, and imports, respectively.
