Survey: 1 in 3 residents of Estonia satisfied with their economic situation

TALLINN – One-third of residents of Estonia consider their economic situation to be good or very good, and as many as 90 percent consider it to be at least satisfactory, a survey conducted by pollster Kantar Emor indicates.

Of residents of South Estonia one in five, and 16 percent of pensioners, see their economic situation as bad or very bad.

"Of Estonian residents 90 percent consider their economic welfare to be at least satisfactory, which means that in the opinion of only one-tenth of them it is bad or very bad," Aivar Voog, executive at Kantar Emor, said.

"The share of those who consider their economic welfare to be good or rather good has been growing for the past five years; compared with the crisis years it has as much as doubled," Voog said.

It appears from the findings of the poll that younger people and richer people, as well as residents of Tallinn, North Estonia and the Tartu area, or the Tartu and Jogeva counties, tend to be more satisfied with their economic situation.

Where in the capital Tallinn the ratio of people feeling satisfied or rather satisfied with their economic situation is 36 percent, in the counties of Voru, Viljandi and Valga in South Estonia the ratio of such respondents is around one-fifth. Those not satisfied with their economic situation made up 7 percent of respondents in Tallinn and 19 percent in South Estonia.

Differences persist between the perceptions of ethnic Estonians and people of other ethnic backgrounds living in Estonia of their own economic situation. Of ethnic Estonians 34 percent consider their economic situation to be good or very good, compared with 23 percent of people of other ethnic backgrounds.

"On the other hand, we can say that in our country regional and age-based differences in assessing one's coping are even bigger than differences based on ethnicity," Voog said.

Fourteen percent of households in Estonia have no savings or investments. The number of such households is as big as 81,000 and there are more households from the Viru region, rural households and people living alone among such households.

At the time of the poll, 67 percent of respondents had savings in their bank account, 38 percent in cash, and 26 percent in the form of a bank deposit. Of the households surveyed 28 percent would be able to cope for at least six months after their main source of income disappears. There was a higher than average ratio of Tallinn households and families with no children among such respondents. One in five households meanwhile would be able to cope for less than one month.

Kantar Emor gathered data for the survey by interviewing 1,650 randomly chosen residents of Estonia aged 18-74 in May this year.