Lets start our week from new post. Today we will shortly look through another country of European Union country – Estonia.
As a member of the European Union, Estonia is considered a high-income economy by the World Bank. The GDP (PPP) per capita of the country was $29,312 in 2016 according to the International Monetary Fund. Because of its rapid growth, Estonia has often been described as a Baltic Tiger beside Lithuania and Latvia. Beginning 1 January 2011, Estonia adopted the euro and became the 17th eurozone member state.
According to Eurostat, Estonia had the lowest ratio of government debt to GDP among EU countries at 6.7% at the end of 2010. A balanced budget, almost non-existent public debt, flat-rate income tax, free trade regime, competitive commercial banking sector, innovative e-Services and even mobile-based services are all hallmarks of Estonia’s market economy.
Food, construction, and electronic industries are currently among the most important branches of Estonia’s industry. In 2007, the construction industry employed more than 80,000 people, around 12% of the entire country’s workforce. Another important industrial sector is the machinery and chemical industry, which is mainly located in Ida-Viru County and around Tallinn.
The living environment is very clean, relaxed and safe. According to the World Health Organization, Estonia has the best overall air quality in the entire world.
About 4 million tourists visit Estonia every year, the majority of them come Finland and stay for a short period — morning (night) trip from Helsinki to Tallinn, evening (night) trip from Tallinn to Helsinki. Here they visit shops and service outlets. Tourists who come for a couple of days also go to the theatre and other places outside Tallinn. The number of tourists from Sweden and Germany is constantly growing. Tallinn is an important cruise destination at the Baltic Sea (next to Copenhagen, Stockholm and St Petersburg), welcoming travellers from different parts of the world.