Bank of Estonia: emigration is a major challenge facing Estonia

  • 2013-04-15

TALLINN – According to a new labor market overview compiled by the Bank of Estonia, the major challenge facing Estonia for the coming years is emigration, writes Postimees Online.

“The number of potential new mothers is falling and in the future, there would be even less young people entering the labor market,” stated Orsoloya Soosaar, one of the authors of the analysis. She added that in coming years the migration balance for Estonia will probably remain negative.

At the same time, the year 2012 was positive from the point of view of labor force. The unemployment rate fell in the second half of the year, including the share and number of long-term unemployed persons.

According to Soosaar, Estonia will continue to be affected by structural unemployment rate, which means that the skills and qualifications and physical placement of unemployed persons do not comply with the needs of the labor market.