Minimum wage in Estonia in 2026, and what a salary costs the employer

From 01.04.2026 the minimum wage in Estonia is 946 euros a month for full time and 5.67 euros an hour. Until 31.03.2026 it was 886 euros a month (Government regulation no 36 of 23.03.2026). On top of the gross salary, the employer pays 33 percent social tax and 0.8 percent unemployment insurance, so a full-time minimum wage costs the employer 1,265.75 euros a month.

This page is part of the guide hiring employees in Estonia.

Who must get the minimum wage

The Government sets the minimum wage by regulation, and an employer may not pay less (Employment Contracts Act § 29(5)-(6)). The rule covers employees under an employment contract.

• Part time. The minimum is pro rata to the hours: at least 5.67 euros for each hour worked.
• Board members. A board member's fee has no minimum wage, because the board member contract is not an employment contract (Employment Contracts Act § 1(5)). See founder remuneration.
• No waiver. A contract term below the minimum is void (Employment Contracts Act § 2). A "net" salary agreed below what the minimum gross produces does not work either.

What the employer pays on top of the gross salary

The minimum social tax

Social tax is due on at least the monthly rate, which is 886 euros in 2026 (Social Tax Act § 2(2); 2026 State Budget Act § 2(6)). So each employee costs at least 292.38 euros of social tax a month, even part time.

The minimum does not apply, or applies only in part, in these cases:

• Exceptions of § 2(4). Among others: an employee who receives a state pension (Estonian, or from another EU state under the coordination rules or a treaty) or has partial or no work capacity; a parent raising a child under three or three or more children under 19; a pupil or student in the defined sense; and, for the first 12 months, a person who was registered as unemployed for at least six of the 12 months before starting (Social Tax Act § 2(4)). Reaching pension age alone does not remove the minimum.
• Pro rata months. In the month of starting or leaving, and in a month of absence such as holiday or sick leave, the minimum is pro rata to the time worked (§ 2(3)). Unpaid leave agreed by the parties is not such an absence: the full minimum stays due for that month.
• Several employers. The employer that applies the employee's basic exemption carries the minimum, and may count the other employer's pay if it holds a certificate of that pay (§ 2(2¹)-(2²)).

What the employee keeps

The employer withholds from the gross pay:

• Unemployment insurance, 1.6 percent (Unemployment Insurance Act § 41).
• Funded pension, 2 percent, or 4 or 6 percent by the employee's choice (Funded Pensions Act § 9). Only for a resident who is in the second pillar and has not opted out (§ 6, § 7).
• Income tax, 22 percent (Income Tax Act § 4(1)), after the basic exemption of up to 700 euros a month (8,400 euros a year), if the employee asked the company in writing to apply it (Income Tax Act § 23(1), § 42).

An employee of old-age pension age is a different case. The 1.6 percent is no longer withheld after the month in which that age is reached, while the employer still pays its 0.8 percent (Unemployment Insurance Act § 3(2), § 40, § 42). The 700 euro exemption is replaced by a pension-age exemption of 776 euros a month. The Social Insurance Board deducts it first from the state pension, then from the funded pension payouts. The employer deducts only what is still unused, and only on the employee's written application (Income Tax Act § 23⁵, § 42).

Worked example: 946 euros gross

A full-time employee on the minimum wage, resident, of working age, in the second pillar at 2 percent, with the basic exemption applied.

Compute other salaries with the salary calculator.

When it is declared and paid

Everything is declared on the monthly TSD return and paid by the 10th of the month after the payment (Income Tax Act § 40(4)-(5); Social Tax Act § 9; Unemployment Insurance Act § 42). A TSD is filed every month for each employee under an employment contract whose work is not suspended in the employment register, even in a month with no pay (Income Tax Act § 40(5)). The minimum social tax is declared on it unless an exception applies.

What changes next year

The monthly rate for social tax in a year may not be lower than the minimum wage in force on 1 July of the previous year (Social Tax Act § 2¹). So the 2027 rate will be at least 946 euros. The exact figure comes with the 2027 State Budget Act.

General information, not advice for your situation. The law as in force on 30.09.2026.