Foreign tourists drove tourism growth to Estonia in 2025
According to Statistics Estonia, accommodation establishments in Estonia hosted around 3.7 million tourists in 2025, marking a 2% increase compared to 2024, although still 3% below pre-pandemic 2019 levels. Compared with 2024, the number of international visitors increased, while domestic tourist numbers declined slightly.
Piret Pukk, leading analyst at Statistics Estonia, said nearly 1.95 million international tourists and 1.74 million domestic tourists stayed in Estonia in 2025.
“Compared with 2024, there were 5% more international tourists and 1% fewer domestic tourists,” she said. “When compared with the pre-pandemic record year of 2019, the number of domestic tourists accommodated last year was 13% higher, while the number of international tourists was still 13% lower.”
In 2025, the largest number of international visitors came from Finland, Latvia, and Germany.
“For Finnish tourists, visitor numbers declined in almost every month of 2025, except January and April. Meanwhile, the number of Latvian tourists increased year over year in every month except March,” Pukk added.
Most international tourists (73%) stayed in Harju County, with 70% choosing overnight stays in Tallinn. A further 11% stayed in Pärnu County and 7% in Tartu County.
Among domestic travelers, 30% stayed in Harju County, including 25% in Tallinn. Pärnu County accounted for 14% of domestic stays, followed by Tartu County and Ida-Viru County at 10% each.
“Between 2020 and 2023, there were more domestic tourists staying in accommodation establishments than international tourists. However, over the past two years, international visitor numbers have once again exceeded domestic tourism,” said Pukk.
As in 2024, leisure travel remained the main purpose of trips to Estonia, accounting for 77% of all stays. Business travel represented 17%, while 7% traveled for other reasons. “The share of leisure trips has grown in recent years, while business travel has declined,” Pukk noted.
Tourists spent a total of 6.7 million nights in accommodation establishments in 2025, with international visitors accounting for 3.8 million overnight stays and domestic tourists for 2.9 million.
Compared with 2024, total overnight stays increased by 1%, driven by a 4% rise in international visitor nights, while domestic overnight stays fell by 2%.
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