About Estonia

• 
  Estonia covers an area of 45 227 sq km neighboring Finland, Sweden, Latvia and Russia.
• 50% of Estonian land is covered by forests.
• Estonian climate is humid and temperate.
• 30% of Estonia's 1,345 million population lives in the capital Tallinn.
• Estonia is among the least densely populated countries in the world.
• Estonians are Finnic people with the Estonian and Finnish languages sharing many similarities.
• Over the centuries, Estonians have been subjected to Danish, Teutonic, Swedish and Russian rule.
• Estonia regained its independence on 20 August 1991 and has since embarked on a rapid program of social and economic reform.
• Estonia joined both EU and NATO is 2004.

Overview

Estonia is a country located at the heart of the Baltic Sea Region - Europe's fastest-growing market of more than 90 million people. It is a country described by political and economic stability, accessibility, ease and low cost of doing business and investor equality.

Since joining the European Union and NATO in 2004, Estonia has experienced phenomenal economic growth. Today, Estonia´s government debt is among the lowest in Europe and the economy has shown considerable endurance to the global economic crisis.

Estonia is accessible, both from a logistical and social point of view - Tallinn is within 3 hours flight from major European capitals and the power distance is very low. Also, as a front-runner is applying modern IT solutions, communications technology makes distances in Estonia irrelevant.

Estonia is ranked among the top 25 out of all countries in the Ease of Doing Business index by The World Bank Group. Estonian business life has largely reoriented from the east to the west and today, the business regulation is less rigid than in the neighbouring Nordic countries.

The Estonian cost level is gradually converging with the surrounding European Union, but still there are meaningful differences. Estonian taxes are low and simple, and labour costs are third of those in Sweden or Finland.

Foreign investors have played a decisive role in building the Estonian economy. Estonia has not based its attraction of FDI on specially designed support schemes but it is our favourable business environment that makes the difference.

This is a country with an exceptional business environment that has allowed highly successful companies like SKYPE (www.skype.com), Playtech (www.playtech.com), Swedbank (www.swedbank.com), Tallink Group (www.tallink.com), ABB (www.abb.com), Elcoteq (www.elcoteq.com) and others to flourish.