Statistics Estonia publishes weekly statistics on deaths

Statistics Estonia will start to publish each week the number of deaths of Estonian inhabitants in the previous week and the breakdown by sex and age group. The data are updated on Tuesdays for as long as it is necessary to assess the impact of the emergency situation.

Last week, 302 Estonian inhabitants died, including 167 females and 135 males. The most deaths (155) were those of over 80-year-olds, 90 persons died at the age of 65–79 and 57 persons were under 65 years old.

The published statistics on deaths are comparable by week starting from the beginning of 2017. Also, the ten‑year average number of deaths is shown for each week.

According to Alis Tammur, leading analyst at Statistics Estonia, the weekly statistics allow to observe better, for example, the impact of the coronavirus disease on the number of deaths. “Besides the total number of deaths, it is important to observe whether there is a change in the number of deaths by age group and what kind of change it is,” added Tammur.

This year, the most deaths in one week occurred between 9–15 March when 335 Estonian inhabitants died. Generally, during the year, there are more deaths from December to March and on average less in June, July, August and September.

See graph here

Source: Statistics Estonia

Museum attendance increased last year

According to Statistics Estonia, in 2019, Estonian museums were visited slightly more than 3.5 million times, which is 100,000 visits more than the year before.

In 2019, there were 180 museums with 244 museum sites in Estonia. Place museums introducing a village, town or rural municipality (96) accounted for the largest number of sites and there were also many thematic museums (66).

According to Maali Käbin, analyst at Statistics Estonia, the most popular museums were thematic museums with more than a million visits, followed by history museums with 830,910 visits. “Estonia continues as one of the European countries with high museum attendance. Last year, museum attendance per 1,000 inhabitants was more than 2,650. Attendance was highest in Saare and Tartu counties: an average of four and a half visits per local inhabitant,” said Käbin.

An estimated one-fifth of all museum visitors in Estonia were foreign tourists. There were slightly more of them in Tartu (30%) and Harju counties (29%) and the share was smallest in Järva and Rapla counties (4%).

Children up to the age of 9 visited museums 224,400 times in 2019, which is 27,000 visits more than the year before. Thematic museums were visited 74,547 times and natural history museums, which were also popular among children, 43,159 times. In 2019, museum visits of disabled persons were registered separately for the first time – the total number was 6,555.

A total of 1,569 persons were employed in museums, i.e. slightly fewer than in 2018. The number of full-time equivalent positions was 1,453. In 2019, museums published 158 scientific publications, one-third of which were published by history museums.

Last year, museums hosted nearly 1,200 exhibitions – 400 fewer than the year before. More than 590,000 people participated in educational programmes and more than 300,000 children and young people in museum lessons.

Read more from Statistics Estonia

59,000 amateurs sang in choirs and danced in folk groups

According to Statistics Estonia, in 2019, there were 82,500 amateurs of folk culture in Estonia. 59,000 of them sang in choirs or danced in folk dance groups. The most folk culture amateurs per thousand inhabitants were in Võru county and the least in Ida-Viru county.

37,300 people participated in choirs and 21,700 practiced folk dancing. Amateur theatre, handicrafts, vocal music (bands, singing clubs), brass music, folklore and folk music were less popular.

Compared to ten years ago, the number of folk culture amateurs in Estonia has grown by 6,000 persons. In 2014, folk culture amateurs numbered 90,000, but after the Song and Dance Celebration of the same year the number decreased slightly. The decline was steeper after the 2017 Youth Song and Dance Celebration.

Per thousand persons, the highest number of folk culture amateurs was in Võru county, followed by Lääne, Põlva, Viljandi and Saare counties. The numbers were smallest in Ida-Viru county and Tallinn.

Profile of a folk culture amateur in 2019

• 59% of folk culture amateurs were children or youth. Their share was largest in choirs, amateur theatre and folk dancing groups and smallest in handicraft clubs and folklore groups.
• 70% of amateurs of folk culture were females. Their share was largest in handicraft clubs, vocal groups and singing clubs, and folklore groups, while it was smallest in brass orchestras and bands.
• 94.5% of amateurs of folk culture participated in Estonian groups. In groups of other national origins, there were over 1,700 choir singers, 500 amateur actors and nearly 460 folk dancers.

Read more from Statistics Estonia website

Most valuable companies of Estonia

Tallink, Swedbank and Estonian Energy are the most valuable companies of Estonia.
Followed by SEB bank, Tallinn port and Telia telecommunications company.

Most valuable Estonian companies. Source: Eesti Ekspress

See graph compiled by Eesti Ekspress weekly newspaper here .

The table includes such values as company value (väärtus), turnover, EBITDA; company transparency (läbipaistvus), owners; public (avalik) or private sector (era); on stock market (yes / jah, no /ei); industry.
EBITDA is earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortization.

The 2019 TOP is based on the 2016-2018. annual accounts

** Company value, except for financial companies where the value of equity has been calculated

*** In the case of financial corporations, the book value of assets at the end of 2018

*** In the case of financial corporations, the book value of equity as of the end of 2018

1In the case of Admiral Markets Group AS, the net result 2018 is recorded under “Turnover 2018” and EBT 2018 under “EBITDA 2018”.

Salaries increased by 7.4 pct last year

According to Statistics Estonia, in 2019, the average monthly gross wages and salaries of Estonian enterprises, institutions and organisations were 1,407 euros, i.e. 7.4% higher than in 2018. The average monthly gross wages and salaries were higher in the second and fourth quarters.

The average monthly gross wages and salaries continued to be highest in information and communication and in financial and insurance activities, and lowest in accommodation and food service activities, real estate activities and in other service activities.

Compared to 2018, the average monthly gross wages and salaries increased the most in other service activities (activities of organisations, repair of household goods, beauty treatment) and in human health and social work activities – respectively by 14% and 10%. The average monthly gross wages and salaries decreased in agriculture by 1.9% and in real estate activities by 0.7%.

In the public sector, the average monthly gross wages and salaries amounted to 1,525 euros and the year-on-year growth was 9.5%. In the private sector, i.e. in enterprises owned by Estonian and foreign private entities, the average monthly gross wages and salaries were 1,368 euros and the year-on-year growth was 6.7%.

In 2019, by county, the average monthly gross wages and salaries continued to be highest in Harju (1,531 euros) and Tartu (1,426 euros) counties and lowest in Hiiu (992 euros) and Valga (1,058 euros) counties. The average monthly gross wages and salaries increased in all counties. The year-on-year growth was fastest in Põlva, Lääne and Pärnu counties and slowest in Jõgeva and Rapla counties.

The average monthly labour cost per employee was 1,886 euros and the hourly cost 12.5 euros. Compared to 2018, the average monthly labour cost increased by 7.3%.

Average monthly gross wages and salaries per employee and their change, 2012–2019

Year	Average monthly gross wages and salaries, euros	Change on previous year, %
2012	887	5.7
2013	949	7
2014	1,005	5.9
2015	1,065	6
2016	1,146	7.6
2017	1,221	6.5
2018	1,310	7.3
2019	1,407	7.4

In the 4th quarter of 2019, the average monthly gross wages and salaries were 1,472 euros, i.e. 6.3% higher compared to the 4th quarter of 2018. The average hourly gross wages and salaries were 8.4 euros, which is 7% higher than the year before. Compared to the 3rd quarter of 2019, the average monthly gross wages and salaries increased the most in education (15.1%) and arts, entertainment and recreation (10.5%) and decreased in accommodation and food service activities (1%) and in agriculture (0.2%).

Source: Statistics Estonia
See graph here

Estonians stay in one location 20 hours per day

Statistics Estonia’s mobility analysis revealed that since the emergency situation and movement restrictions were implemented, people living in Estonia stay in their main location 20 hours per day on average. The distance covered in one day as well as the number of trips has decreased. The revised analysis shows that the share of people staying in their main location has increased by 16 percentage points, which means that an estimated 200,000 more people have stayed local.

According to Director General Mart Mägi, Statistics Estonia analysed by order of the crisis commission whether people have stayed more local after the declaration of the emergency situation. “The mobility analysis showed that Estonian people stay 20 hours per day on average in their main location, their distance covered in one day has decreased from 27.5 kilometres to 17.6 kilometres, and their number of trips in one day away from the main location has decreased from 1.8 to 1.5,” said Mägi.

“New movement restrictions in public places were set at the end of March. The mobility analysis revealed that compared to the first weeks of the emergency situation when movement decreased, the additional restrictions have not had a clear impact on mobility,” added Mägi.

For the mobility analysis, Statistics Estonia used aggregate tables of the movement analysis of mobile phone numbers, which were received from mobile operators. These were used as the basis for calculating the rate for staying local for the whole country. Real-time data of clients were not used in the analysis. These were anonymous aggregate data. It is not possible to identify or analyse movement patterns of individual people on the basis of the anonymous data.

Four weeks ago, an emergency situation was declared in Estonia – schools and cultural institutions were closed and restrictions were placed on ferry trips. In the following weeks, new restrictions on movement have been added, including the closing of shopping centres. During the emergency situation, the mobility analysis carried out in cooperation between Statistics Estonia, mobile operators, the Government Office, the Health Board, the Data Protection Inspectorate, ministries, the IT Centre of the Ministry of Finance and Positium provides the crisis commission overviews of people’s mobility and serves as input for decisions on how to gradually lift the restrictions. Mobility analyses and their transfer will be continued until the end of the emergency situation.

Read more from Statistics Estonia

The mobility analysis map is available here

More hotel guests than last year in February

According to Statistics Estonia, 232,000 tourists stayed in Estonian accommodation establishments in February. Their total number of nights spent was 415,000. 52% of the tourists were foreign tourists and 48% were domestic tourists.

In total, 121,000 foreign tourists used the services of accommodation establishments. Compared to February 2019, the number of foreign tourists increased by 9%. The largest share of foreign tourists (46%) came from Finland, 13% came from Russia and 10% from Latvia. Year-on-year, the number of tourists from Russia grew by a fifth. The number of tourists from Finland and Latvia increased, respectively, by 7% and 4%.

Most foreign tourists came to Estonia for a holiday, some came on business and the rest had some other reason for visiting. Foreign tourists spent 234,000 nights in Estonia, which is 13% more than in February 2019. The majority of foreign tourists preferred the accommodation establishments of Harju county, followed by Pärnu and Tartu counties.

In February, 112,000 domestic tourists stayed in accommodation establishments and their nights spent totalled 180,000. The number of domestic tourists increased by 3% and their nights spent by 5% compared to February 2019. Most domestic tourists were on holiday and a quarter were on a business trip. They mainly stayed in Harju county, followed by Tartu, Pärnu and Ida-Viru counties.

In February, 915 accommodation establishments were available for tourists. The average cost of a guest night was 34 euros. In Tartu county, the average cost of a guest night was 39 euros, in Harju county 36 euros, in Ida-Viru county 33 euros and in Pärnu county 29 euros.

Read more from Statistics Estonia

Smallest change in consumer price index in 3,5 years

According to Statistics Estonia, the change of the consumer price index in March was –0.7% compared to February and 0.9% compared to March of the previous year. The last time that the year-on-year change of the consumer price index was below 0.9% was in October 2016, when it was 0.6%.

Compared to March 2019, goods were 0.8% and services 1.1% more expensive. Regulated prices of goods and services fell by 3.5% and non-regulated prices rose by 2.1%.

Compared to March 2019, the consumer price index was affected the most by more expensive food and non-alcoholic beverages. The main contributors were fresh fruit (19.4%), meat and meat products (5.1%). Electricity that reached homes was 13.7% cheaper, petrol 0.2% more expensive and diesel fuel 2.4% cheaper. Of food products, rice was more expensive (14%), while potatoes (26%) and fresh vegetables (12%) were cheaper.

Compared to February, the consumer price index was affected the most by cheaper motor fuel (4.7%), which contributed more than 40% of the total change of the index. Food and non-alcoholic beverages were 1.1% and electricity that reached homes 5.1% cheaper.

The consumer price index for March largely reflects the situation before the emergency situation, as the price collection period was the week before it was announced. The index for education decreased due to the decision of local authorities to suspend kindergarten fees during the emergency situation.

Change of the consumer price index by commodity groups, March 2020

Commodity group	March 2019 – March 2020, %	February 2020 – March 2020, %
TOTAL	0.9	-0.7
Food and non-alcoholic beverages	2.3	-1.1
Alcoholic beverages and tobacco	-2.7	0.4
Clothing and footwear	2.1	1.5
Housing	-3.0	-1.0
Household goods	1.3	0.3
Health	3.3	-0.1
Transport	0.2	-2.0
Communications	-1.4	-0.1
Recreation and culture	5.4	-0.1
Education	-8.3	-11.3
Hotels, cafés and restaurants	2.7	0.0
Miscellaneous goods and services	1.8	0.0

Source: Statistics Estonia

Weaker economic activity lowers inflation

• Annual inflation reached 0.9% in March in Estonia.
• In 2020, we expect inflation to amount to 0.8%, or even 0.4%, if we include lower excise taxes proposed by the government.

Compared to February, consumer prices declined by 0.7%. Annual inflation slowed to 0.9% in March. Over the year, food, especially fruits and meat products, and entertainment became more expensive. While demand for food is expected to remain robust, demand for hobbies and leisure activities should weaken because of the lockdown, but later also due to higher unemployment and fallen incomes for many households.

In March, the prices of motor fuels declined but less than weak oil prices would have suggested. We expect oil prices to remain low, even when oil producers reach an agreement as oil reserves are large and a fall in oil demand in the first half of the year will be substantial.

In addition to diesel fuel, alcoholic beverages, electricity, and communication and water services became cheaper last month. Lower excise taxes affected the price of alcoholic beverages. Favourable weather has a large impact on the demand and supply of electricity in the Nordic market. March 2020 was 3.5 degrees warmer than March 2019 in Estonia.

The consumer price index for March largely reflects the situation before the declaration of the state of emergency, as price data was collected before the lockdown started.

In 2020, inflation is expected to reach 0.8%, according to current estimates. If we include the excise tax declines proposed by the government on diesel fuel, natural gas, and electricity, consumer prices would grow even less, only 0.4%. Lower inflation is good news for those who face pay cuts or job losses.

Source: Swedbank