Regions and Cities at a Glance 2018 – ESTONIA
Economic trends in regions
Regional gap in GDP per capita, 2000-16
Index of regional disparity in GDP per capita, 2016
Top 20 % richest over bottom 20% poorest regions
2016 2000
GDP per capita in USD PPP
Ratio
4
Small regions
(TL3)
Large regions
(TL2)
45 000
40 000
35 000
30 000
25 000
20 000
15 000
10 000
5 000
Highest region
North Estonia
38 701 USD
3
2
1
Estonia
24 561 USD
Lowest region
Northeast Estonia
15 094 USD
0
2000 2005 2010 2016
Country (number of regions considered)
The regional gap in GDP per capita has increased in Estonia over the last sixteen years. A strong economic growth in North
Estonia drove this trend, especially since the recovery from the economic crisis. In 2016, GDP per capita in North Estonia was more than 2.6 times higher than in Northeast Estonia, an unprecedented level of difference between regions in the country. Regional economic disparities in Estonia also remain above the median of OECD countries.
With a productivity growth of 3.1% per year over the period 2000-16, Northeast Estonia has slightly reduced the productivity gap with the other regions. However, this trend has reversed and disparities have started increasing again between 2013 and 2016.
The unemployment rate for persons aged 15-64 has considerably decreased since 2010, although in some regions, such as in
Northeast Estonia, youth unemployment is still significantly above the OECD average and three times as high as in Southern
Estonia.
Productivity trends, most and least dynamic regions, 2000-16
Unemployment rate, 15-64 years old, 2007-17
GDP per worker in USD PPP rate (%)
35
North Estonia: highest productivity in 2016
80 000
(+2.7% average annual growth over 2000-16)
30
25
20
15
10
5
70 000
60 000
50 000
40 000
30 000
20 000
Highest rate
Northeast Estonia
12.1%
Northeast Estonia: highest productivity growth (+3.1% annually)
Estonia
5.9%
Estonia
OECD
Lowest rate
Southern Estonia
4.1%
West Estonia: lowest productivity growth
(+2.3% annually)
0
2007 2012 2017
2000 2005 2010 2016
Source: OECD Regional Database.
Notes: (1) Figure on regional gap in GDP per capita: OECD regions refer to the administrative tier of subnational government. Estonia is composed of five small regions. (2) Figure on index of regional disparity: top (bottom) 20% regions are defined as those with the highest (lowest) GDP per capita until the equivalent of 20% of national population is reached, this indicator provides a harmonised measure to rank OECD countries, using data for small regions (Territorial Level 3) when available. (3) Productivity is measured as GDP per employee at place of work in constant prices, constant Purchasing Power Parities (reference year 2010).
Updated the 5th of March 2019 Differences in well-being across regions
Top region
Bottom region
Central (Tallinn region)
Regions (Groups of maakond, TL3)
North North
North
North
Central
South
Central
Northeast
North
Central
North
Estonia (country)
Estonia (country)
Central
Northeast
Northeast
Northeast Northeast
Northeast
Northeast
Jobs Safety Civic Education Community Health Access to Environment Life Income Housing
Engagement services Satisfaction
Relative ranking of the regions with the best and worst outcomes in the 11 well-being dimensions, with respect to all 402 OECD regions. The eleven dimensions are ordered by decreasing regional disparities in the country. Each well-being dimension is measured by the indicators in the table below.
The largest regional disparities in Estonia are observed for jobs and safety. The region of North Estonia outperforms the other six
Estonian regions in five out of nine well-being dimensions, and it ranks among the top 20% of the OECD regions for education, access to services and environment.
The top performing Estonian regions fare better than the OECD median region in four out of eleven well-being indicators, while they fare worse than the OECD median region with regard to homicide rate, mortality rate and life satisfaction. In some regions, the homicide rate is more than three times higher than the one of the OECD median region.
Estonian regions
Country OECD median
Average region
Top 20% Bottom20%
Jobs
Employment rate 15 to 64 years old (%), 2017 74.1 67.7 77.4 63.5
Unemployment rate 15 to 64 years old (%), 2017 6.1 5.5 5.0 10.1
Safety
Homicide Rate (per 100 000 people), 2016 3.3 1.3 2.0 4.8
Education
Labour force w ith at least upper secondary education (%), 2017 89.2 81.7 93.4 85.6
Community
Perceived social netw ork support (%), 2013 87.2 91.4 90.8 82.9
Health
Life Expectancy at birth (years), 2016 78.0 80.4 78.7 75.9
Age adjusted mortality rate (per 1 000 people), 2016 9.4 8.1 8.7 10.5
Civic engagement
Voters in last national election (%), 2017 or lastest year 62.9 70.9 69.1 57.4
Access to services
Households w ith broadband access (%), 2017 87.0 78.0 89.6 82.9
Environment
Level of air pollution in PM2.5 (µg/m³), 2015 7.6 12.4 6.7 9.0
Life Satisfaction
Life satisfaction (scale from0 to 10), 2013 6.8 5.6 5.2 5.4
Income
Disposable income per capita (in USD PPP), 2016 .. .. 12 073 17 695
Housing
Rooms per person, 2016 1.2 1.8 .. ..
Source: OECD Regional Database. Visualisation: Notes: (1) OECD regions refer to the first administrative tier of subnational government, which are large regions (Territorial Level 2) for all countries except Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania (small regions, Territorial Level 3);
Estonia is composed of five small regions. (2) Household income per capita data are based on USD constant PPP, constant prices (year 2010).
Updated the 5th of March 2019 Metropolitan areas in the national economy
OECD population is concentrated in cities*
Percentage of population in cities, 2016
United States
Estonia
OECD average people outside cities people in cities with population above 500 000 people in cities with population above 500 000 people outside cities
30%
6%
1.2 billion people - 70% live in cities
40%
1.3 million people - 60% live in cities
44%
55% people in cities with populationbetween
50 000 and 250 000
9%
0%
16% people in cities with population between
50 000 and 250 000 people in cities with population between
250 000 and 500 000 people in cities with population between 250 000 and 500 000
Source: OECD Metropolitan Database. Number of cities: 3 in Estonia and 1 138 within the OECD.
In Estonia, 60% of the population lives in cities of more than 50 000 inhabitants. The share of population in cities with more than 500 000 people is 44% compared to 55% in the OECD area.
Importance of metropolitan areas
Cities above 500 000 people, 2016
Contribution of metropolitan areas to GDP growth
Cities above 500 000 people, 2000-16
Estonia OECD average
%
80
OECD average
Estonia
%
90
80
70
60
50
40
30
20
10
0
77%
64%
70
60
50
40
30
20
10
0
63%
58%
68%
55%
51%
44%
12
% of national % of national % of national
GDP employment population
All metropolitan areas Largest contributor
The metropolitan area of Tallinn accounts for 64% of national GDP and 51% of employment. Between 2000 and 2016, the metropolitan area of Tallinn generated 77% of the national GDP growth.
In terms of GDP per capita, the metropolitan area of Tallinn ranks below the median of the 327 OECD Metropolitan areas.
Tallinn is placed among the 20% least polluted metropolitan areas across the OECD in terms of people’s exposure to PM 2.5.
OECD Metropolitan areas ranking
Cities above 500 000 people
USDPPP
100 000
80 000
60 000
40 000
20 000
GDP per capita, 2016
0
Top 20% richest metropolitan areas
Bottom 20% poorest metropolitan areas
Level ofair pollution in PM 2.5 (µg/m³)
30
20
10
Air pollution
(PM2.5), 2017
0
Top 20% leastpolluted metropolitan areas
Bottom 20% most polluted metropolitan areas
Source: OECD Metropolitan Database. Number of metropolitan areas with a population of over 500 000: 1 in Estonia compared to 327 in the OECD.
* Note: Cities are defined here as functional urban areas, which are composed by high-density urban centres of at least 50 000 people and their areas of influence
(commuting zone). For more information, see:
^
Updated the 5th of March 2019 Subnational government finance
Subnational government expenditure by function
As a share of total subnational government expenditure, 2016
Estonia OECD average
0
0
11
22
39%
16%
16%
15%
8%
Education
Health
25% Education
18% Health
3
4
5
6
7
3
4
5
6
7
Economic affairs
Other
14% Economic affairs
15% Other
Social protection
General public services
14% Social protection
14% General public services
6%
Subnational expenditure per capita:
USD 2 797 USD 6 817
Subnational government expenditure amounts to USD 2 797 per capita in Estonia compared to an OECD average of USD 6 817.
In Estonia, this is equivalent to 23.1% of total public expenditure and to 9.4% of GDP. In comparison, across the OECD, subnational government expenditure accounts for 40.4% of total public expenditure and for 16.2% of GDP. Education and health are the two largest spending items for subnational governments in Estonia: together they represent 55% of subnational expenditure compared to 43% in the OECD area.
In Estonia, 23.7% of total public investment was carried out by subnational governments compared to an OECD average of 56.9%
Role of subnational governments in public investment
Subnational government public investment per capita, 2016
USD per capita
Estonia
OECD average
1 600
1 400
1 200
1 000
800
Total public investment
USD 1 407 per capita
4.7% of GDP
Total public investment
USD 1 278 per capita
3.0% of GDP
600
Subnational government investment
USD 727 per capita
56.9% of public invest.
Subnational government investment
USD 334 per capita
23.7% of public invest.
400
200
0
Source: OECD Subnational Government Structure and Finance Database.
Note: The function ‘Other’ includes housing and community amenities, recreation, culture and religion; environment; public order and safety.
OECD Regions and Cities at a Glance 2018
The 2018 edition of OECD Regions and Cities at a Glance shows how regions and cities contribute to national growth and the well-being of societies. It updates its regular set of region-by-region indicators, examining a wide range of policies and trends and identifying those regions that are outperforming or lagging behind in their country.
Consult this publication on line:
Updated the 5th of March 2019