Estonia’s unemployment rate declined to 7.1% in the first quarter of 2026, down from an eleven-year high of 8.6% in the same period a year earlier. The number of unemployed fell by 12.0 thousand to 52.2 thousand. Of these, 25.6 thousand were men, compared with 33.7 thousand a year earlier, and 26.7 thousand were women, down from 30.5 thousand.
By age group, the unemployment rate among young people aged 15–24 increased by 4.0 percentage points to 22.8%. In contrast, the rate for those aged 25–49 fell to 6.2% from 8.2%, and for those aged 50–74 it declined to 5.2% from 6.9%.
Meanwhile, the employment rate edged up to 68.0% from 67.4% a year earlier, as the number of employed rose by 4.7 thousand to 686.3 thousand. The labour force participation rate eased slightly to 73.2%, down from 73.7% a year earlier.
