Compensation of employees in Estonia

Estonia: Compensation of employees was 16.4% in 2023. ▼ Falling

Latest (2023)
16.4%
Change on year
up 3.3%
World rank
113th
of 155 countries
All-time high
21.9%
in 2000
All-time low
8.3%
in 1991
Years of data
30
1991–2023

Compensation of employees in Estonia, 1991–2023

051015201991200720231991: 8.3 % of expense1995: 19.7 % of expense1996: 19.2 % of expense1997: 19.5 % of expense1998: 19.4 % of expense1999: 21.2 % of expense2000: 21.9 % of expense2001: 17.9 % of expense2002: 18.4 % of expense2003: 18.5 % of expense2004: 18.2 % of expense2005: 18 % of expense2006: 17.3 % of expense2007: 17.8 % of expense2008: 17.6 % of expense2009: 16.2 % of expense2010: 16.2 % of expense2011: 16.4 % of expense2012: 16.2 % of expense2013: 16.4 % of expense2014: 17 % of expense2015: 16.6 % of expense2016: 16.6 % of expense2017: 16.5 % of expense2018: 16.1 % of expense2019: 16.3 % of expense2020: 15.4 % of expense2021: 15.6 % of expense2022: 15.9 % of expense2023: 16.4 % of expense

Source: Government Finance Statistics Yearbook and data files, International Monetary Fund (IMF). Measured in % of expense.

Analysis

Estonia recorded 16.4% for compensation of employees in 2023.

That represents a change of up 3.3% on the previous year and up 0.3% over ten years.

Over the whole period, compensation of employees in Estonia peaked at 21.9% in 2000 and was at its lowest, 8.3%, in 1991.

That places Estonia 113th out of 155 countries with data for 2023, putting it in the middle of the range.

The long-run direction has been consistently falling across the 30 years of available data.

Compensation of employees in Estonia, year by year

Annual values for Compensation of employees (% of expense) in Estonia, 1991 to 2023.
Year % of expense Change
1991 8.3%
1995 19.7% +138.4%
1996 19.2% -2.2%
1997 19.5% +1.3%
1998 19.4% -0.5%
1999 21.2% +9.6%
2000 21.9% +3.0%
2001 17.9% -18.2%
2002 18.4% +2.8%
2003 18.5% +0.7%
2004 18.2% -1.6%
2005 18.0% -1.0%
2006 17.3% -4.4%
2007 17.8% +3.3%
2008 17.6% -1.0%
2009 16.2% -8.4%
2010 16.2% +0.0%
2011 16.4% +1.3%
2012 16.2% -1.0%
2013 16.4% +1.2%
2014 17.0% +3.8%
2015 16.6% -2.3%
2016 16.6% -0.4%
2017 16.5% -0.1%
2018 16.1% -2.5%
2019 16.3% +1.1%
2020 15.4% -5.5%
2021 15.6% +1.3%
2022 15.9% +2.0%
2023 16.4% +3.3%

Averages by decade

DecadeAverage LowestHighest Years
1990s 17.9% 8.3% 21.2% 6
2000s 18.2% 16.2% 21.9% 10
2010s 16.4% 16.1% 17.0% 10
2020s 15.8% 15.4% 16.4% 4

Countries ranked near Estonia

  1. 110 Uganda 17.4% compare
  2. 111 Slovenia 16.8% compare
  3. 112 Serbia 16.7% compare
  4. 114 Slovakia 16.4% compare
  5. 115 United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland 15.8% compare
  6. 116 Peru 15.6% compare

See the full ranking of 196 places →

More public sector data for Estonia

All data for Estonia →

Frequently asked questions

What is compensation of employees in Estonia?
Compensation of employees in Estonia was 16.4% in 2023, according to Government Finance Statistics Yearbook and data files, International Monetary Fund (IMF).
What is the highest compensation of employees recorded in Estonia?
The highest recorded value was 21.9% in 2000.
What is the lowest compensation of employees recorded in Estonia?
The lowest recorded value was 8.3% in 1991.
How does Estonia rank for compensation of employees?
Estonia ranks 113th out of 155 countries with data for 2023.
Is compensation of employees rising or falling in Estonia?
Over the last ten years it is up 0.3%. The long-run trend across the full record is falling.
Where does this Estonia data come from?
The figures come from Government Finance Statistics Yearbook and data files, International Monetary Fund (IMF), published as part of Compensation of employees (% of expense). Statizoid updates them automatically from the source API.

Download this data

CSV · JSON — 30 observations, free to reuse under CC BY 4.0 (World Bank Open Data).

Share, cite or embed this page

Cite this page

Compensation of employees in Estonia. Statizoid, drawing on Government Finance Statistics Yearbook and data files, International Monetary Fund (IMF). Retrieved 03 September 2026, from https://public-sector.statizoid.com/stat/compensation-of-employees-percent-of-expense/estonia/

Embed or link this data

Paste this into a page to link back to these figures. The data itself is free to reuse under CC BY 4.0 (World Bank Open Data); please keep the attribution.

<a href="https://public-sector.statizoid.com/stat/compensation-of-employees-percent-of-expense/estonia/">Compensation of employees in Estonia</a> — Statizoid

About this data

Indicator
Compensation of employees (% of expense)
Unit
% of expense
Source
Government Finance Statistics Yearbook and data files, International Monetary Fund (IMF)
Licence
CC BY 4.0 (World Bank Open Data)
Coverage
196 places, 5,286 data points, 1972–2024
Last refreshed

Compensation of employees is defined as the total remuneration, in cash or in kind, payable by an enterprise to an employee in return for work done by the latter during the accounting period. This indicator is expressed as percentage of total expenses which is any decrease in net worth resulting from a transaction.