Reference metadata describe statistical concepts and methodologies used for the collection and generation of data. They provide information on data quality and, since they are strongly content-oriented, assist users in interpreting the data. Reference metadata, unlike structural metadata, can be decoupled from the data.
The data series in Tables 10 include both mandatory and voluntary data on the following indicators: Gross Value Added (GVA) at current and previous year's prices, total employment, number of employees, self-employed persons, Gross Domestic Product (GDP) at current and previous year's prices, and population — all broken down by industry, NACE A*6 classification, and by region (NUTS 3). Additionally, data on compensation of employees, gross fixed capital formation, total employment (in hours worked), employees, and self-employed persons are provided by industry, NACE A*6, and by region (NUTS 2). However, data on gross fixed capital formation for the government sector and its subsectors are missing.
The data series in Tables 13 include both mandatory and voluntary data on the following: net operating surplus and mixed income; the Allocation of Primary Income Account of Households; the Secondary Distribution of Income Account of Households; consumption of fixed capital; and final consumption expenditure (national concept) — all broken down by industry, NACE A*6, and by region (NUTS 2).
In addition to the transmitted data, the following indicators are published on the national website:
Gross domestic product by county;
Gross domestic product by county and by economic sector;
Gross domestic product by chain-linked method by region.
3.2. Classification system
Estonian Classification of Economic Activities (EMTAK 2008) based on NACE Rev. 2 - As of 1 January 2025, a new version of EMTAK — EMTAK 2025 — entered into force. It has been adapted to the modern economic environment and activities: EMTAK search;
Nomenclature of Territorial Units for Statistics (NUTS).
3.3. Coverage - sector
Regional accounts describe the overall economy of a country, covering all units whose centre of predominant economic interest lies within its economic territory. In Estonia, regional accounts are compiled for the total economy.
3.4. Statistical concepts and definitions
Regional accounts apply the same concepts and definitions as national accounts, in line with the European System of Accounts (ESA 2010). Detailed explanations of concepts, data sources, and compilation methods are provided in Eurostat’s Manual on Regional Accounts Methods (2013 edition). The calculation of regional Gross Value Added (GVA) under ESA 2010 follows the same principles and methodologies as those used in national accounts. Regional accounts data are compiled using both the production approach and a hybrid method.
3.5. Statistical unit
Following the ESA 2010 guidelines, in national accounts two types of units and two corresponding ways of subdividing the economy are used:
institutional units;
local units.
Institutional units are enterprises, public institutions (i.e. ministries, local governments, etc.) and non-profit institutions. Regions are assigned to institutional units according to the location where they are registered. The basis for the registration is the Commercial Register. This approach covers the majority of statistical units. However, some institutional units can have significant operations in multiple locations or are notably active in several economic activities. Until reference year 2020, the SBS survey also contained a sub-questionnaire about local kind-of-activity units providing information on the number of persons employed, hours worked, wages and social contributions or LKAUs. Starting from the reference year 2021, a new methodology is used to obtain data of local units. Local units have been created using employment register (in Estonian Töötamise register – TÖR) and income and social tax declarations (TSD) data. These data sources were adapted to align with company information from EKOMAR (the complex annual company report). A machine learning model was subsequently applied to determine the activity areas of the identified local units.
3.6. Statistical population
The average annual population in RA is defined as arithmetic mean of the population number at the beginning of the year and at the end of the year (beginning of the next year), rounded to a whole number.
3.7. Reference area
In Estonia there is a 1 NUTS 2 region (Estonia as a whole) and 5 NUTS 3 regions:
Northern Estonia – Harju county,
Central Estonia - Järva, Lääne-Viru and Rapla county,
Northeastern Estonia – Ida-Viru county,
Western Estonia – Hiiu, Lääne, Pärnu and Saare county,
Southern Estonia – Jõgeva, Põlva, Tartu, Valga, Viljandi and Võru county.
Estonia has no significant Extra-regio territory. Extra-regio for Estonia consists of diplomatic and military representatives. Estonia does not hold any notable economic territory (military bases, deposits of natural resources, scientific bases, etc.) outside of its borders. Therefore, no adjustments are made to account for Extra-regio.
3.8. Coverage - Time
The time series of RA data for Estonia starts in 1995, and periods referred to are calendar years.
3.9. Base period
Not applicable.
Data are expressed in million euro for both current and previous year’s prices. Total employment, employees and self-employed is measured in thousand of persons and hours worked.
The data is compiled annualy.
6.1. Institutional Mandate - legal acts and other agreements
National accounts are compiled in accordance with the European System of Accounts (ESA2010) which was published in the Official Journal as Annex A of Regulation (EU) No 549/2013,amended by Council Regulation (EU) 2023/734 of 15 March 2023.
6.2. Institutional Mandate - data sharing
Data received via the transmission programme are shared with other institutions in accordancewith specific agreements, notably with the ECB and the OECD. A protocol for cooperation between Eurostat and the OECD in the area of National Accounts signed in June 2024 specifies agreed data exchange and data validation arrangements. Data are reported to Eurostat within the ESA 2010 transmission programme.
7.1. Confidentiality - policy
The confidentiality of data collected for the purpose of producing official statistics is guided by the requirements provided for in § 32, § 34, § 35, § 38 of The Official Statistical Act and by Regulation (EC) No 223/2009 on European statistics.
7.2. Confidentiality - data treatment
The dissemination of confidential data collected for the production of official statistics is based on the requirements laid down in §§ 34 and 35 of the Official Statistics Act.
The treatment of confidential data is regulated by the Procedure for Protection of Data Collected and Processed by Statistics Estonia (in Estonian). See more details on the website of Statistics Estonia: Data protection (Privacy policy)
Due to the small scale of the Estonian economy, the two-digit NACE breakdown of regional industry is limited by statistical confidentiality requirements. This also affects the quality of more detailed data. Therefore, regional estimates are presented at the more aggregated one-digit (A*6) level.
8.1. Release calendar
Notifications about the dissemination of statistics are published in the release calendar, which is available on the website. Every year on 1 October, the release times of the statistical database, news releases, main indicators by IMF SDDS and publications for the following year are announced in the release calendar (in the case of publications – the release month)
8.2. Release calendar access
The release calendar is available on the homepage of Statistics Estonia’s website.
8.3. Release policy - user access
All users have been granted equal access to official statistics: dissemination dates of official statistics are announced in advance and no user category (incl. Eurostat, state authorities and mass media) is provided access to official statistics before other users. Official statistics are first published in the statistical database. If there is also a news release, it is published simultaneously with data in the statistical database. Official statistics are available on the website at 8:00 a.m. on the date announced in the release calendar.
The frequency of annual data dissemination is the same for both Statistics Estonia and Eurostat.
10.1. Dissemination format - News release
A news release is published. Link to the available news in Estonian are here: Statistics Estonia news
Regional data is published under the subject area 'Economy / National Accounts' in the Statistics Estonia public database.
10.4. Dissemination format - microdata access
The dissemination of data collected for the purpose of producing official statistics is guided by the requirements provided for in § 33, § 34, § 35, § 36, § 38 of the Official Statistics Act. Access to microdata and the anonymisation of microdata are regulated by Statistics Estonia's document: Procedure for the Transmission of Confidential Data for Scientific Purposes (document in Estonian).
System of National Accounts 2008 (SNA 2008). European Commission, International Monetary Fund, Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development, United Nations, World Bank (2009, New York).
To assure the quality of processes and products, Statistics Estonia applies the EFQM Excellence Model, the European Statistics Code of Practice and the Quality Assurance Framework of the European Statistical System (ESS QAF).
Statistics Estonia is also guided by the requirements in § 7. “Principles and quality criteria of producing official statistics” of the Official Statistics Act. Quality is assured by strict application of ESA 2010 concepts.
11.2. Quality management - assessment
Statistics Estonia performs all statistical activities according to an international model (Generic Statistical Business Process Model – GSBPM). According to the GSBPM, the final phase of statistical activities is overall evaluation using information gathered in each phase or sub-process; this information can take many forms, including feedback from users, process metadata, system metrics and suggestions from employees.
ESA 2010 data transmissions are subject to regular quality assessment reviews. Article 4 of Regulation (EU) No 549/2013 (ESA 2010 Regulation) specifies that the data covered by that Regulation is subject to the quality criteria, namely relevance, accuracy, timeliness and punctuality, accessibility and clarity, comparability and coherence, as set out in Article 12(1) of Regulation (EC) No 223/2009 of the European Parliament and of the Council.
This information is used to prepare the evaluation report which outlines all the quality problems related to the specific statistical activity and serves as input for improvement actions, as specified in Commission Implementing Regulation 2016/2304 of 19 December 2016. As part of the annual exercise, Eurostat assesses the results, prepares and publishes an overall assessment based on the national quality reports and other available information.
12.1. Relevance - User Needs
The main users of regional accounts data include the Ministry of Finance and the Association of Estonian Rural Municipalities.
The data are primarily used for analysing economic activity across counties and regional units, supporting development planning and policy design, and for the preparation of economic studies, research, and statistical publications.
12.2. Relevance - User Satisfaction
Since 1996, Statistics Estonia has conducted reputation and user satisfaction surveys. All results are available on the Statistics Estonia website, in the section Survey results: Reputation and consumer satisfaction.
12.3. Completeness
Statistics Estonia prepares and transmits to Eurostat all mandatory RA data series in accordance with the ESA 2010 Transmission programme.
13.1. Accuracy - overall
The accuracy of the national accounts depends on the quality of the input data derived from statistical activities. The quality and accuracy of these input data are regularly verified. Regional data are compiled with a high degree of accuracy and are methodologically consistent across all NUTS levels. Further information on accuracy is available in Chapter 5, Accuracy, of Eurostat’s Quality Report on National and Regional Accounts – 2023 data transmissions (2024 Edition), published in the Statistical Reports series.
13.2. Sampling error
Not applicable
13.3. Non-sampling error
Not applicable
14.1. Timeliness
Regional national accounts tables become available in December of each year. Final results at the NUTS 2 and NUTS 3 levels are published not later than 24 months after the reference year.
14.2. Punctuality
All required aggregate RA tables were transmitted by the legal deadlines in recent years.
15.1. Comparability - geographical
Comparability is ensured through the application of common definitions set out in the European System of Accounts (Manual on Regional Accounts Methods.
15.2. Comparability - over time
The changes in companies’ registered addresses resulting from the 2017 administrative reform did not have a significant impact. However, the time series for the years 1995–2016, prior to the reform, are based on the previous administrative division. The largest increase in value added was observed in the Western Estonia region (approximately 3%), followed by the North-Eastern Estonia region (approximately 2%), offset by decreases in the Northern and Southern Estonia regions.
Employment data for the period 2000-2023 is not publishable for some economic activities due to quality concerns.
15.3. Coherence - cross domain
Within the system of national accounts there is full consistency between the domains: regional national accounts, annual and quarterly accounts, sector accounts, financial accounts, regional accounts, supply and use tables. Regional accounts ensure that the method of regionalization reflects economic reality as accurately as possible and that the totals are consistent with other systems of national accounts. However, in practice full consistency may not always be possible and temporary discrepancies might occur. They are usually the result of vintage differences.
Data revisions follow the Harmonized European Revision Policy (HERP).
17.2. Data revision - practice
The data of regional gross domestic product (RGDP) are revised according to the GDP revisions of total national accounts.
Users can access information about GDP revisions on the Statistics Estonia website, in the section GDP revisions.
The information on the main reasons for Estonia's national accounts data revisions is published on the Official statistics portal: Stat website.
18.1. Source data
SURVEY DATA
Not used
ADMINISTRATIVE DATA
Data on the declaration of income and social tax, unemployment insurance premiums and contributions to mandatory funded pension (form TSD) and also the Business Income of a Resident Natural Person (Form E) are received from the Estonian Tax and Customs Board. Data on governmental accounts are received from the Ministry of Finance. Data, including annual figures on loans to legal entities by county and county-level insights from the Household Finance and Consumption Survey (HFCS), are received by the Estonian Bank.
DATA FROM OTHER STATISTICAL ACTIVITIES
Data from statistical activities 20003 “Financial statistics of agricultural, forestry and fishing enterprises (annual)”, 20300 “Financial statistics of enterprises (annual)”, 21300 “Financial statistics of financial service activities and activities auxiliary to financial services (annual)”, 21303 “Government finance”, 21401 “National accounts (annual)” are used.
18.2. Frequency of data collection
Estonia’s Regional Accounts are based on annually collected data and are released each year at the end of December according to the data transmission programme.
18.3. Data collection
Data from Tax and Customs Board are received via an FTP-server and X-Road, from Ministry of Finance and Estonian Bank by e-mail. Data, including annual figures on loans to legal entities by county and county-level insights from the Household Finance and Consumption Survey (HFCS), are produced by the Estonian Bank and provided via e-mail.
18.4. Data validation
Since most of the source data for regional GVA are also inputs for the National Accounts, the initial data validation is carried out at that stage. Additional checks are performed when necessary, including contacting data providers and making corrections. Arithmetic and qualitative controls are used in the validation process, including comparison with data from previous periods and other surveys. Regional GVA results are cross-checked against the published NA figures, and an additional validation is conducted before submission to Eurostat.
18.5. Data compilation
Estonia’s Regional Accounts are compiled entirely by Statistics Estonia, as described in theRegional Accounts Inventory. The compilation process uses various administrative and statistical sources and covers 17 regions (15 counties and 2 larger cities), with final estimates produced at the A*21 level. Since the two-digit NACE detail used in National Accounts is not suitable for regional breakdowns, value added by county is aggregated and compiled at the level of five regions and the NACE A*6 classification. The data published on the Statistics Estonia website follow the same regional and NACE (A*6) levels as those on the Eurostat website.
18.6. Adjustment
Not applicable
No comments.
The data series in Tables 10 include both mandatory and voluntary data on the following indicators: Gross Value Added (GVA) at current and previous year's prices, total employment, number of employees, self-employed persons, Gross Domestic Product (GDP) at current and previous year's prices, and population — all broken down by industry, NACE A*6 classification, and by region (NUTS 3). Additionally, data on compensation of employees, gross fixed capital formation, total employment (in hours worked), employees, and self-employed persons are provided by industry, NACE A*6, and by region (NUTS 2). However, data on gross fixed capital formation for the government sector and its subsectors are missing.
The data series in Tables 13 include both mandatory and voluntary data on the following: net operating surplus and mixed income; the Allocation of Primary Income Account of Households; the Secondary Distribution of Income Account of Households; consumption of fixed capital; and final consumption expenditure (national concept) — all broken down by industry, NACE A*6, and by region (NUTS 2).
In addition to the transmitted data, the following indicators are published on the national website:
Gross domestic product by county;
Gross domestic product by county and by economic sector;
Gross domestic product by chain-linked method by region.
3 November 2025
Regional accounts apply the same concepts and definitions as national accounts, in line with the European System of Accounts (ESA 2010). Detailed explanations of concepts, data sources, and compilation methods are provided in Eurostat’s Manual on Regional Accounts Methods (2013 edition). The calculation of regional Gross Value Added (GVA) under ESA 2010 follows the same principles and methodologies as those used in national accounts. Regional accounts data are compiled using both the production approach and a hybrid method.
Following the ESA 2010 guidelines, in national accounts two types of units and two corresponding ways of subdividing the economy are used:
institutional units;
local units.
Institutional units are enterprises, public institutions (i.e. ministries, local governments, etc.) and non-profit institutions. Regions are assigned to institutional units according to the location where they are registered. The basis for the registration is the Commercial Register. This approach covers the majority of statistical units. However, some institutional units can have significant operations in multiple locations or are notably active in several economic activities. Until reference year 2020, the SBS survey also contained a sub-questionnaire about local kind-of-activity units providing information on the number of persons employed, hours worked, wages and social contributions or LKAUs. Starting from the reference year 2021, a new methodology is used to obtain data of local units. Local units have been created using employment register (in Estonian Töötamise register – TÖR) and income and social tax declarations (TSD) data. These data sources were adapted to align with company information from EKOMAR (the complex annual company report). A machine learning model was subsequently applied to determine the activity areas of the identified local units.
The average annual population in RA is defined as arithmetic mean of the population number at the beginning of the year and at the end of the year (beginning of the next year), rounded to a whole number.
In Estonia there is a 1 NUTS 2 region (Estonia as a whole) and 5 NUTS 3 regions:
Northern Estonia – Harju county,
Central Estonia - Järva, Lääne-Viru and Rapla county,
Northeastern Estonia – Ida-Viru county,
Western Estonia – Hiiu, Lääne, Pärnu and Saare county,
Southern Estonia – Jõgeva, Põlva, Tartu, Valga, Viljandi and Võru county.
Estonia has no significant Extra-regio territory. Extra-regio for Estonia consists of diplomatic and military representatives. Estonia does not hold any notable economic territory (military bases, deposits of natural resources, scientific bases, etc.) outside of its borders. Therefore, no adjustments are made to account for Extra-regio.
The data is compiled annualy.
The accuracy of the national accounts depends on the quality of the input data derived from statistical activities. The quality and accuracy of these input data are regularly verified. Regional data are compiled with a high degree of accuracy and are methodologically consistent across all NUTS levels. Further information on accuracy is available in Chapter 5, Accuracy, of Eurostat’s Quality Report on National and Regional Accounts – 2023 data transmissions (2024 Edition), published in the Statistical Reports series.
Data are expressed in million euro for both current and previous year’s prices. Total employment, employees and self-employed is measured in thousand of persons and hours worked.
Estonia’s Regional Accounts are compiled entirely by Statistics Estonia, as described in theRegional Accounts Inventory. The compilation process uses various administrative and statistical sources and covers 17 regions (15 counties and 2 larger cities), with final estimates produced at the A*21 level. Since the two-digit NACE detail used in National Accounts is not suitable for regional breakdowns, value added by county is aggregated and compiled at the level of five regions and the NACE A*6 classification. The data published on the Statistics Estonia website follow the same regional and NACE (A*6) levels as those on the Eurostat website.
SURVEY DATA
Not used
ADMINISTRATIVE DATA
Data on the declaration of income and social tax, unemployment insurance premiums and contributions to mandatory funded pension (form TSD) and also the Business Income of a Resident Natural Person (Form E) are received from the Estonian Tax and Customs Board. Data on governmental accounts are received from the Ministry of Finance. Data, including annual figures on loans to legal entities by county and county-level insights from the Household Finance and Consumption Survey (HFCS), are received by the Estonian Bank.
DATA FROM OTHER STATISTICAL ACTIVITIES
Data from statistical activities 20003 “Financial statistics of agricultural, forestry and fishing enterprises (annual)”, 20300 “Financial statistics of enterprises (annual)”, 21300 “Financial statistics of financial service activities and activities auxiliary to financial services (annual)”, 21303 “Government finance”, 21401 “National accounts (annual)” are used.
The frequency of annual data dissemination is the same for both Statistics Estonia and Eurostat.
Regional national accounts tables become available in December of each year. Final results at the NUTS 2 and NUTS 3 levels are published not later than 24 months after the reference year.
Comparability is ensured through the application of common definitions set out in the European System of Accounts (Manual on Regional Accounts Methods.
The changes in companies’ registered addresses resulting from the 2017 administrative reform did not have a significant impact. However, the time series for the years 1995–2016, prior to the reform, are based on the previous administrative division. The largest increase in value added was observed in the Western Estonia region (approximately 3%), followed by the North-Eastern Estonia region (approximately 2%), offset by decreases in the Northern and Southern Estonia regions.
Employment data for the period 2000-2023 is not publishable for some economic activities due to quality concerns.
