People and Society of Estonia

Nationality

Estonian(s)

Ethnic Groups

Estonian 68.7%, Russian 24.8%, Ukrainian 1.7%, Belarusian 1%, Finn 0.6%, other 1.6%, unspecified 1.6%

Population

1,331,796

Population in Major Urban Areas

TALLINN (capital) 400,000

Although medical care in Estonia falls short of Western standards, Estonia’s medical care is generally good, especially in Tallinn and in some other cities such as Tartu and Pärnu. Estonia has many highly-trained medical professionals, but some hospitals and clinics still suffer from a lack of equipment and resources. While private physicians often speak fair to excellent English, you are likely to find very limited English in hospitals and in emergency rooms. Due to workload, doctors in hospitals spend considerably less time interacting with a patient than is typical in an American hospital. Nurses and other hospital staff are likely to speak little to no English. You can find good information on vaccinations and other health precautions, such as safe food and water precautions and insect bite protection, on the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s (CDC) website, or by calling their hotline for international travelers at 1-877-FYI-TRIP (1-877-394-8747). You can also consult the World Health Organization’s (WHO) website, which contains additional health information for travelers, including detailed country-specific health information. If you plan to visit forested areas of Estonia in the summertime, you should take steps to avoid ticks because of occasional cases of tick-borne encephalitis. Although there is no vaccine against this disease currently licensed for use in the United States, a vaccine requiring a series of injections is available under two different brand names in Estonia, both of which can be obtained from many local physicians. Serious cases of seasonal influenza, including H1N1, have been reported in recent years and you should consider getting a flu shot before traveling to Estonia during flu season.

Life Expectancy at Birth

Life expectancy at birth in Estonia stands at approximately 76 to 77 years overall, though this figure reflects a notable gap between the sexes. Estonian women can expect to live to around 81 to 82 years, while Estonian men have a significantly shorter average lifespan of roughly 72 to 73 years. This gender gap of nearly a decade is one of the more pronounced disparities found within the European Union and is attributed to a combination of factors including higher rates of cardiovascular disease among men, greater alcohol consumption, smoking prevalence, and historically lower rates of preventive healthcare engagement among the male population. Estonia experienced substantial improvements in life expectancy following its re-independence in 1991 and its subsequent transition to a market economy and eventual accession to the European Union in 2004. During the Soviet era and the turbulent years of economic transition in the 1990s, life expectancy declined sharply, particularly for men, before recovering through the 2000s and 2010s as the country modernized its healthcare infrastructure and living standards rose. The Estonian healthcare system is publicly funded through a health insurance model administered by the Estonian Health Insurance Fund. The country has invested in expanding access to primary care, cancer screening programs, and cardiovascular disease prevention, all of which have contributed to gradual improvements in longevity over recent decades. Like many European nations, Estonia faces demographic pressures related to an aging population. A rising proportion of elderly citizens places increased demand on healthcare and social services. The country has also grappled with population decline driven by emigration, particularly among younger working-age adults, which shapes the overall demographic and health profile of the nation. The COVID-19 pandemic caused a measurable setback in life expectancy across Estonia during 2020 and 2021, as it did throughout much of Europe. Post-pandemic recovery has been gradual, and overall life expectancy figures remain modestly below the levels recorded immediately before the pandemic, though the longer-term trajectory is expected to resume its upward course as public health conditions continue to stabilize. Compared to the EU average life expectancy of roughly 80 to 81 years, Estonia trails slightly, though its trajectory has been broadly upward over the past two decades, reflecting wider improvements in public health, nutrition, and medical care across the country.

Infant Mortality Rate

Estonia maintains one of the lowest infant mortality rates in the world, reflecting the country's strong public health infrastructure, high standard of living, and well-developed healthcare system. As of the most recent available data, Estonia's infant mortality rate stands at approximately 2 to 3 deaths per 1,000 live births, placing it consistently among the top-performing nations globally in this measure of child health. This low rate is the result of decades of investment in maternal and neonatal care following Estonia's independence in 1991 and its subsequent integration into European health standards. The country operates a universal healthcare system that provides prenatal care, skilled birth attendance, and postnatal support to mothers and newborns across the country. Virtually all births in Estonia take place in hospital settings with qualified medical professionals present, a critical factor in reducing neonatal complications. Estonia's infant mortality rate has declined significantly since the early 1990s, when it was considerably higher due to the transitional economic challenges following the Soviet era. The steady improvement over the past three decades reflects not only advances in medical technology and practice but also improvements in maternal nutrition, public health education, and socioeconomic conditions across the country. Gender disparities in infant mortality in Estonia follow global patterns, with male infants showing slightly higher mortality rates than female infants. The primary causes of infant death in Estonia, as in most high-income countries, include congenital anomalies, premature birth complications, and sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS), rather than the infectious diseases that remain significant causes of infant mortality in lower-income nations. Estonia's performance compares favorably with European Union averages and aligns closely with neighboring Nordic and Baltic countries that have similarly robust public health systems. Organizations such as UNICEF and the World Health Organization use Estonia's healthcare model as an example of successful transition from a post-Soviet health system to a high-performing European standard of maternal and child care.

Major Infectious Diseases

Intermediate

Literacy Definition

Age 15 and over can read and write

• Unaffiliated33.0%
• Unspecified32.0%
• Lutheran14.0%
• Orthodox13.0%
• Atheist6.0%
• Christian2.0%

Estonian (official), Russian, Ukrainian, Finnish, other

• Estonian
• Russian
• Ukrainian

Crime Information

Estonia is a relatively safe country, although sporadic crime in Tallinn’s Old Town is an ongoing concern, particularly during the summer tourist season. You should exercise the same precautions with regard to your personal safety and belongings that you would take in major U.S. cities. The most common crime encountered by foreign tourists in Estonia is pick-pocketing. Tourists are often targeted by individuals and small groups of thieves working together. In public places such as Tallinn’s Old Town, in particular the Town Hall Square (“Raekoja Plats”), the airport, train stations, bus stations, and the Central Market, you should exercise special care in safeguarding valuables against pick-pockets. Guard your valuables, especially purses and bags, while visiting busy cafés and restaurants. Do not leave valuables unattended in vehicles, and make sure car doors are locked at all times. From time to time, especially late at night near bars and night clubs, foreigners have been subject to scams, or have become involved in altercations, including some involving violence, with inebriated individuals. Common late night scams involve women enticing tourists in a reputable bar to visit a nearby bar where they are grossly overcharged. Although Estonian police have shut down several suspect bars over the past year, this remains a concern. On occasion, U.S. citizens have reported that they were harassed for racial reasons or because they appeared or sounded “foreign.” These incidents have generally occurred outside of major tourist areas. Credit-card fraud is also an ongoing concern, as is Internet-based financial fraud and “Internet dating” fraud. You should take precautions to safeguard your credit cards and report any suspected unauthorized transaction to the credit card company immediately. If an incident occurs, you should report it promptly to the local police. The Estonian police agencies are modern, well-equipped law enforcement entities on a standard comparable to most Western European police. Don’t buy counterfeit and pirated goods, even if they are widely available. Not only are the bootlegs illegal to bring back into the United States, by purchasing them you may also be breaking local laws.

Criminal Penalties

While traveling in Estonia, you are subject to its laws and regulations. Foreign laws and legal systems can be vastly different than our own. If you break local laws in Estonia, your U.S. passport won’t help you avoid arrest or prosecution. It’s very important to know what is legal and what is not legal where you are going. There are also some things that might be legal in the country you visit, but still illegal in the United States. For example, you can be prosecuted under U.S. law if you buy pirated goods abroad. Engaging in sexual conduct with children or using or disseminating child pornography in a foreign country is a crime prosecutable in the United States. Based on the Vienna Convention on Consular Relations and customary international law, if you are arrested in Estonia you have the option to request that the police, prison officials, or other authorities alert the U.S. Embassy of your arrest and to have communications from you forwarded to the embassy.