According to Statistics Estonia, the country’s official statistics agency, in the first quarter of 2022, the average monthly gross wages and salaries were €1,593, which was 8.1% more than at the same time last year.
Argo Tarkiainen, an analyst at the agency, said the average monthly gross wages and salaries were again the highest in information and communication (€2,871), financial and insurance activities (€2,764), and energy (€2,655).
“Average gross wages were the lowest in accommodation and food service (€974), other services (€1,160) and real estate activities (€1,162),” Tarkiainen said in a statement.
In the first quarter, average wages and salaries fell only in other service activities (1.3%). “Wages increased the most in the energy sector (15.7%) and accommodation and food service activities (15%),” added Tarkiainen.
The average monthly gross wages and salaries continued to be highest in Harju County (€1,744) and Tartu County (€1,583) and lowest in Valga County (€1,130) and Hiiu County (€1,033).
Year on year, the biggest growth in wages and salaries was recorded in Põlva County (14.8%) and Ida-Viru County (13.2%). Compared with the first quarter of 2021, average monthly gross wages and salaries decreased in Hiiu County (10.1%) and Valga County (0.8%), the statistics agency said.