The overall number of Estonians abroad (200 000) is an estimate as the count is sometimes based on the number of people who identify as Estonian in terms of ethnicity in national censuses and in other cases the count is based on Estonian citizens abroad according to Statistics Estonia or according to embassy estimates. According to Statistics Estonia there are 121 181 Estonian citizens abroad as of 01.01.2022.

In the period of 2016-2020, the total number of Estonian emigrants (37 251) exceeded the total number of those who returned (36 679). In the period of 2017-2019, the number of those who returned to Estonia was bigger than the number of those who emigrated, but this trend changed again in 2020.

Top three factors for keeping Estonian identity and connecting with Estonia among Estonians abroad.

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs conducted a survey among Estonians living abroad in 2020 to find out how prominent a place their land of origin holds in their everyday lives. A large share (76%) of respondents were interested in contributing to the development of Estonia and happy with their inclusion.

Estonia's e-Residency program was launched in December 2014 with the aim of providing foreign nationals secure access to digital services offered within the Estonian e-governance ecosystem.

The overall number of Estoninans abroad (200 000) is an estimate as the count is sometimes based on the number of people who identify as Estonian in terms of ethnicity in national censuses and in other cases the count is based on Estonian citizens abroad according to Statistics Estonia or according to embassy estimates. According to Statistics Estonia there are 121 181 Estonian citizens abroad as of 01.01.2022.

Download a full list of Estonian citizens worldwide in Excel (Statistics Estonia):