The population of Estonia stood at 1,360,745 as of the end of last year, marking a decline of 9,250 people compared with the previous year, according to Statistics Estonia.
This marked the second year in a row that the Baltic country’s population has declined, the statistics body noted.
The change in population was driven by both natural change and migration. In 2025, there were 9,240 births and 15,688 deaths, resulting in a negative natural increase of 6,488 people.
Migration also contributed to the overall decline. During the same year, 15,212 people immigrated to Estonia while 18,014 people emigrated, producing a net migration loss of 2,802 people.
“In recent years, net migration had boosted the population figure and helped to offset the negative natural increase,” commented Kadri Rootalu, population and education statistics service manager at Statistics Estonia.
“However, in 2025, net migration turned negative after more than ten years, as emigration from Estonia exceeded immigration.”
Birth rates
The number of births continued to exhibit a downward trend. The number of children born in 2025 was 450 lower than in 2024, representing a decline of 4.6%. This followed larger decreases in earlier years, including 11.5% in 2024 and 6% in the year before.
Compared with the average for 2010 to 2021, the number of births has fallen by more than 30%, the data showed.
The total fertility rate stood at 1.16 in 2025. This compares with 1.18 in 2024 and an average of 1.62 between 2017 and 2021. The average age of women at childbirth was 31.2 years, while the average age of first-time mothers was 29.4 years. Both figures increased compared with the previous year.
Migration patterns
In terms of migration patterns, immigration decreased by 3,422 compared with 2024, while emigration increased by 754. The number of Ukrainian citizens among both immigrants and emigrants remained significant in the migration data.
“In previous years, Ukrainian citizens have held a significant share among immigrants, while in the last two years they have held a noticeably larger share among emigrants as well,” Rootalu added. “The increase in emigration can mainly be attributed to Ukrainian citizens but also to Estonian citizens who are leaving.”
The age structure of Estonia’s population showed that 18.7% were under 18 years of age, 59.9% were aged 18 to 64, and 21.4% were aged 65 and over. The share of older residents increased while the share of minors decreased.
Estonian citizens made up 82.2% of the population. Russian citizens accounted for 5.5%, Ukrainian citizens for 4.6%, and people with undetermined citizenship for 4.3%. Read more here.
