An estimated 9.9 per cent of Estonia’s working-age population is employed in sectors such as technology, advanced services and the creative industries; the figure puts the country close to Europe’s leaders, though the 2026 ranking is based partly on estimates.
Estonia is among a small group of European countries where about one in ten working-age adults is employed in knowledge-intensive businesses, according to a new index.
The 2026 Geography of Europe’s Brain Business Jobs Index, produced by the European Centre for Entrepreneurship and Policy Reform, or ECEPR, with support from Nordic Capital, estimates the share in Estonia at 9.9 per cent. Cyprus is estimated to have the same share.
Switzerland leads the ranking at 11.4 per cent, followed by Ireland at 11.1 per cent. Sweden and Denmark are both at 10.4 per cent, with Malta and the Netherlands also ahead of Estonia. Germany stands at 8.2 per cent, France at 6.5 per cent and Italy and Spain at 5.6 per cent.
The index counts jobs in technology, information and communications technology, advanced services and creative professions. It identifies programming, head-office management, engineering and architecture, high-tech manufacturing and creative work among Estonia’s areas of strength.
The 9.9 per cent figure is an estimate, not a direct measurement of employment in 2026. The index draws mainly on Eurostat business statistics, which are published with a lag, and uses more recent employment data to estimate the latest years. The most recent year with full underlying data is 2024.
ECEPR chief executive Nima Sanandaji said Estonia’s results reflected a combination of talent and competitive tax and business policies. The index measures employment patterns, however, and does not by itself establish that tax policy caused the differences between countries.
The study also finds that regions with a larger share of brain business jobs tend to have lower unemployment. Each percentage-point increase in that share is associated with a 0.18 percentage-point decrease in regional unemployment. The relationship is a correlation, not evidence that one directly causes the other.
