Overview

Estonia has a total population of approximately 1.4 million people and is situated in Eastern Europe sharing borders with Latvia and Russia. The country was part of the USSR from 1940 until 1991, when it regained its independence following the collapse of the Soviet Union, and since then has been steadily developing a modern market economy and increasing its ties with the West. Estonia was invited to join NATO at a summit in Prague in November 2002 and became a full member of the EU in May 2004. It has also been a member of the WTO since November 1999.

Economy

The city of Tallinn, situated on the north coast near the opening to the Gulf of Finland, is home to over a quarter of Estonia's population and is the country's capital and largest city. Since the beginning of the 1990s Estonia has carried out dramatic restructuring of its economy, which initially led to a period of decline. However, the country experienced strong economic growth in the second half of the 1990`s and this trend looks set to continue. According to figures the Statistical Office of Estonia in the 10-year period 1996 - 2006 the country experienced positive economic growth, with the exception of 1999, in 2006 the growth was 11.2%.

Estonia was also placed 27th in the World Economic Forum's Global Competitiveness Report for 2006-2007, which ranks 131 countries based on a combination of their macroeconomic environment, technology and the quality of public institutions. Estonia`s position in the report was in front of Spain (29th), Italy (46th) and Greece (65th), of the former East European countries Estonia was in the highest position.

The economy is largely dependent on services, such as banking and tourism, and light industry. There are also well-established oil-shale energy, shipbuilding and transportation industries. More recently, electronics, telecommunications and information technology have been promising areas of growth.

Almost all of the leading economies of the world have a low perception of corruption and Estonia, after being under Soviet control for around half of a century scores surprisingly well in this area. Transparency International`s corruption perception index 2007 places Estonia in joint 28th place with Portugal in a survey of 179 countries worldwide. By comparison the countries former rulers, Russia, is in 143rd place.

Infrastructure

The city of Tallinn is at the centre of Estonia's transport infrastructure. The country's only international airport is situated just 4 kilometres from Tallinn and offers direct flights to and from numerous destinations throughout Europe including Copenhagen, Frankfurt, Hamburg, Helsinki, Kiev, London, Moscow, Riga, Stockholm and Vienna. The Port of Tallinn, comprised of the four main commercial ports of Muuga, Tallinn City Port, Kopli and Padliski, is the largest in Estonia and handles the majority of the country's total trade. It is also one of the biggest cruise and passenger ports in the Baltics and has regular ferry services to both Helsinki and Stockholm. Ferries to Helsinki run several times a day and take approximately 4 hours, while ferries to Stockholm take about 15 hours to complete the journey. There are also hydrofoils and catamarans in operation for part of the year, significantly reducing travel times. Tallinn also benefits from international railway lines, which connect the city with Moscow, St. Petersburg and Minsk.

Workforce

Figures from the Statistical Office of Estonia show that the workforce in 2007 was somewhere in excess of 650 thousand and a large number of the population speaking at least 2 languages. The country also enjoys a near 100% literacy rate and according the City Administration of Tallinn, the city has an above-average level of education and good knowledge of world developments, an open attitude and favouring of constant learning. The Estonian education system is able to furnish Estonian and foreign companies in Estonia with highly skilled workers educated in diverse fields.

Standard of Living

According to the CIA World Factbook, Estonia enjoy a relatively good GDP per capita when compared to most ex-Eastern Bloc countries, standing at $21,800 (2007 est.) and Russia at $14,600.

In the Euro-Canada Health Consumer Index 2008, published by Health Consumer Powerhouse, leading European providers of consumer information on health care, Estonia is well placed out of 29 European countries, plus Canada. Estonia is in 12th place in the Total Index Score with the United Kingdom and Canada in 17th and 23rd positions respectively. Additionally the index ranks Estonia 1st for best value for money.

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