This was work that I did for a Publication and felt it would be good to archive it here.
Life Expectancy is Lower than Average – Life Expectancy has reached all time highs in Estonia over the last few years. In 2023, Estonia saw its highest life expectancy at birth ever at 79 years. However Estonia’ life expectancy still trails behind the European average of 81.5 years. “Looking at countries across Europe, the Baltic countries are notable for the big difference in male and female life expectancies. In Estonia, life expectancy is 83.1 years for women and 74.5 years for men,” explained Eveli Voolens, the social statistics team lead at Statistics Estonia
Cost of Living is Moderate in Estonia – Estonia is the 18th most expensive country in Europe. It costs an average of €3,921 per month, including €1,058 for rent, for a family of four to live in Estonia. While for a single person, the total monthly cost of living in Estonia is €1,456. In Germany for example, a family of four spends around €5,048 per month, while a single person spends about €1,880. Tallinn is the most expensive city to live in Estonia, with a total monthly cost for a single person of approximately €1,594, in comparison to Narva, which is the cheapest city in Estonia to live, with an estimated monthly cost of around €740.
Estonia’s Public Transportation is Well Developed – Estonia, including most notably the city of Tallinn, has an orderly and structured public transport system. The system primarily utilizes Buses, Trolleybuses and Trams with consistent and staunch lanes in some parts of the country and cities. While the system is very well maintained, in 2023, Estonia ended free bus travel due to lack of funds.
Estonia’s Economy is in A Downturn – Despite having a highly developed economy, Estonia’s economy is currently in a recession. This is attributed largely to rising production costs. The ongoing war between Ukraine and Russia has also disrupted a number of supply chains that Estonia relies on heavily, with a number of business models having fallen into disuse as a result. The pain of Estonia’s recession can be felt increasingly in the country’s labour market. Despite all of this, the country’s total employment is at its highest ever level for a two year period, despite Estonia’s recession, due primarily to companies trying to avoid cutting jobs from their labour force.
Estonia is Ranked 31st according to Human Development Index – The Human Development Index is used by the United Nations to measure the progress of a country. In the case of Estonia, it ranks 31st out of 193 countries included in the table. Estonia was measured with a score of 0.899 points in 2022. The 0.899 score for Estonia is the highest that the country has had in the index since tracking began in 1990. Estonia has remained above a 0.89 index since 2018.
Estonia Reached a 10 Year Low in Poverty Rate in 2023 – After reaching an At-Risk poverty rate of 21.8% in 2013, Estonia saw a fluctuating At-Risk Poverty Rate from then until 2022. However in 2023, Estonia’s At-Risk poverty rate reached a 20.1% rate, which is the lowest rate that the country has seen in that statistic since its 18.6% At-Risk Rate back in 2012. Also in 2023, Estonia’s Absolute Poverty Rate reached a level of 2.7%, which is the highest rate that Estonia has seen since it saw a rate of 2.7% in that statistic back in 2017. While that is up from the 1.4% rate they saw in Absolute Poverty Rate in 2021, that rate is down from the Absolute Poverty Rate of 3.5% that Estonia saw in 2023.
Estonia’s Health Care System Has Inequalities Despite Progress Made – In an effort to provide satisfaction to users of its health care system and ensure financial sustainability, Estonia worked on strengthening its Public Health Care (PHC). With a number of national health insurance systems introduced and the consolidation in the number of hospitals throughout the country, Estonia’s progress in its health care system is easy to see. However, Citizens have dealt with a number of inequalities in their own health care due to socioeconomic conditions that they still face. The most years of life lost off of the Estonian Life Expectancy has to do with Health Care inequalities. Due to COVID-19, excess mortality increased in 2021, which caused a decrease to the average life expectancy in Estonia. Cardiovascular diseases are also still the main cause of premature mortality. “In Estonia, people with a lower income and less education are the ones losing healthy years of life the most,” said Ewout van Ginneken, an expert at the European Observatory on Health Systems and Policies. If the co-payment for the necessary treatment a Estonian must receive is too high, people with lower income tend to sacrifice the necessary treatment.
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