Estonia's population fell by over 7,000 in 2025

Estonia's population was at the start of this year 7,041 lower than a year ago, preliminary data from Statistics Estonia shows.

As of January 1, 2026, the population of Estonia stood at 1,362,954, the agency reported.

Net migration was negative for the first time in over a decade, as 11,298 people arrived in the country one year to January 1, while 12,004 people left during that time.

Kadri Rootalu, service manager of population and education statistics at Statistics Estonia, said demographic trends of recent years continued in 2025.

"Last year, over 6,000 more people died than were born. Emigration remained at the level of 2024, but immigration decreased. Net migration was negative for the first time since 2014. The population of Estonia declined by 7,041 overall," Rootalu said.

Births under 10,000 for only second time in history

There were 9,092 births in 2025, a 6 percent fall on 2024's figure and only the second time since records began that the number has been below 10,000.

"Compared with 2024, there were 600 fewer children born last year. The number of births started to fall dramatically in 2022," Rootalu noted, adding the decline in births in 2025 was not as sharp as that seen in 2024. "The number of births in 2024 was down by more than 1,200 from 2023, which was almost 12 percent. These indicators improved last year," she said.

The fall in the overall number of women in Estonia at childbearing age is among the factors behind the falling birth rate. In 2025, the number of women in this age bracket, given as 20–44, was 210,000, a fall of 10,000 on 10 years ago, though the figure has remained steady over the last three years.

Neighboring countries have seen similar trends, Rootalu said. "According to preliminary data, the number of births also decreased significantly in Latvia and Lithuania. In Finland, the number of births rose a little based on the first nine months of 2025, but it was still low compared with historical data."

15,427 deaths in 2025

The number of deaths in Estonia in 2025 was down by 300 from 2024 and totaled 15,427, little changed on the average for the years 2010–2019.

More people leaving Estonia than arriving

According to the data on registered migration, 11,298 people immigrated to Estonia in 2025, while 12,004 people emigrated. This means departures outnumbered arrivals by 706. This is the first time since 2014 that net migration has been negative.

Around a third of arrivals are of Ukrainian origin, though this figure is considerably lower than in the earlier years of the Russian invasion. "About 35 percent of the immigrants, or 4,000 people, were citizens of Ukraine. This number was smaller than in previous years. The number of Ukrainian citizens arriving in Estonia was 33,200 in 2022, 13,100 in 2023 and 7,000 in 2024," Rootalu said.

Based on preliminary data, the net migration of Estonian citizens, in other words returnees and those citizens moving abroad, was also negative in 2025.
"However, over the last 10 years, the net migration of Estonian citizens has been balanced," she noted.

Statistics Estonia says it is to supplement registered migration data with data on unregistered migration in April, and this revised data will show conclusively whether net migration in 2025 was negative.

The above data was compiled as at January 14. More detailed information from Statistics Estonia is available here.