Education

The population and housing census looks at, among other things, the highest level of education attained by people living in Estonia. This means that if a person went to a vocational school after obtaining a master’s degree, the highest level of education, i.e. the master’s degree, is recorded. When interpreting the results, it is important to bear in mind that only completed educational institutions are taken into account. A person’s educational attainment was found by combining data from various registers. A detailed description of the methodology is available here.

The share of people with higher education is increasing, while the share of people with basic education is decreasing

Secondary education is the highest educational level for 42.9% of the Estonian population aged 15 and over, and higher education for 37.1%. 20% of Estonia’s population have basic education or less. Compared with the previous census, there are relatively more people with higher education and fewer with basic education. The share of people with secondary education has been stable.

41.2% of the working-age population have higher education

The highest educational attainment is related to age – older people have had more time to complete various levels of education. In the figure below, we look at the three main levels of educational attainment by 5-year age groups.

The graph shows that by the age of 20, most people have obtained at least secondary education. The share of people with basic education is lowest in the 55–59 age group. From the age of 65 onwards, the share of people with basic education starts to rise again, reaching 50% in the over-90 age group. This means that half of the over-90-year-olds have basic education or less.

Higher education is usually completed by around the age of 25. From then on, the proportion of people with higher education in the population remains around 40% up to the age group of 70 years, after which the share starts to decline.

See more on the graph.

A fifth of 25–64-year-olds have a master's degree

In addition to the three main levels – basic, secondary, and higher education –, educational attainment is further broken down into subcategories. As by the age of 25 or so, those wishing to do so have mostly obtained at least their first higher education qualification, and the older age groups are usually no longer participating in the labour market, we will look only at the 25–64 age group.

Population and housing census data show that 21.4% of the Estonian population aged 25–64 have a master’s degree. 17.4% have vocational secondary education and about the same number (17.2%) have general secondary education.

See more on the graph.

More people with higher education in cities

The highest share of persons with higher education is found in city settlement regions, with 48.8% in the 25–64 age group. In town settlement regions, 47.1% of the population in this age group have higher education and 30% in rural settlement regions.

The share of persons with basic education is currently highest in rural settlements, reaching 19.6% (10.3% in town and 8.9% in city settlements), but it has declined markedly over time: in 2000, the share of people with basic education in rural settlement regions was 31.8%, while in 2011 it was only 23.4%. The educational profile of people living in town settlement regions has also changed a lot in 20 years. In 2000, 30.7% of the population in such settlements had higher education, rising to 47.1% in 2021.

In a regional comparison, as expected, Harju and Tartu counties have the highest concentration of people aged 25–64 with higher education: 52.6% and 46.1%, respectively. Ida-Viru county ranks third with 36.9% – in that county, the rate of persons with higher education equals the Estonian average. The lowest share of people with higher education was recorded in Järva (25.5%) and Jõgeva counties (27%). In all other counties, people with higher education make up between 28.5% and 31.5% of the population.

When looking at the share of people with higher education among the inhabitants of municipalities, Viimsi rural municipality stands out with 62.5% of the 25–64-year-olds having higher education. This figure exceeds the threshold of 15% also in Harku rural municipality, Tallinn city, Rae and Kiili rural municipalities, and Tartu city.

Viimsi and Harku rural municipalities have the highest proportion of persons with a master’s degree as well (38.1% in Viimsi and 33.4% in Harku, compared with the Estonian average of 21.4%). However, when looking at the share people with a doctorate, Tartu city is the clear leader with 4% of the population having a doctoral level degree (Estonian average is 1%). The next in the ranking are rural municipalities around Tartu city: Nõo – 2.1%, Kambja – 1.6%, and Luunja – 1.78%.

The share of people with vocational secondary education is highest in Sillamäe city (28.7%), Antsla rural municipality (28.3%), and Kohta-Järve city (27.9%, Estonian average is 17.4%). The proportion of persons with vocational education after secondary education is highest in Loksa city (17.5%) and Sillamäe city (15.3%, Estonian average is 10.1%).

See the graph for the breakdown of the population of each city and rural municipality by educational attainment.

Estonia is a valued destination for highly educated foreigners

As at 2021, 14% of native Estonian speakers aged 25–64 have basic education or less, 44.4% have secondary education or vocational education after secondary education, and 41.6% have higher education or secondary specialised education after secondary education. For native Russian speakers, these figures are 9.1, 48.1, and 42.8%, i.e. the share of persons with basic education is slightly lower and the proportion of persons with secondary education slightly higher than among native Estonian speakers. Among the population with some other mother tongue, the proportion of persons with basic or secondary education is much lower – 4.6% and 25.4%, respectively –, while the majority (70.1%) have higher education.

Compared with 2000, there are 7.6% fewer people with basic education or less among native Estonian speakers, 4.5% fewer people with secondary education or vocational education after secondary education, and 12.1% more people with higher education. For native Russian speakers, the changes are similar, just slightly smaller (–4.8%; –1.4%, and +6.2%). However, among the population with some other mother tongue, the share of persons with basic education is now 14.8% lower, the proportion of persons with secondary education is 20% lower, and the share of people with higher education is 34.8% higher than 20 years ago. This means that Estonia is increasingly a destination for highly educated immigrants.

While the biggest changes in educational attainment among the Estonian- and Russian-speaking population occurred between the censuses of 2000 and 2011, the most significant change among the population with some other mother tongue was seen after the census of 2011.

See the graph for a more detailed breakdown of people with different mother tongues by age group and educational attainment.

Men prefer to obtain vocational, women academic education

In Estonia, women are much more likely to pursue higher education than men. This has also been the case in previous censuses. In the 25–64 age group, 52.7% of women and 33.7% of men have higher education. The corresponding figures in the previous census were 47% and 30%.

Half of the men in Estonia are considered to have completed secondary education but 32% of them have obtained a vocational qualification along with or in addition to secondary education.

Half of the women with higher education have a master’s degree. The share of women with a bachelor’s degree is the same as that of women with general secondary education (15.8% of all women).