Statistics Estonia (click here) recalculated the population of counties in 2017 according to the administrative division in place after this year’s local government elections.
After the administrative reform, 79 of the previous 213 municipalities remained. Of these, 28 had no change, but 10 former rural municipalities were divided between two or more municipalities. In the case of counties, there change was smaller. There are still 15 counties in Estonia, but the area and population of the majority of these have changed. The borders did not change for Hiiu, Saare and Viljandi counties. Harju county borders are also the same after the administrative reform, but compared to the beginning of the year, there is one village less in Harju county. After the administrative reform, Lääne county lost the most area.
Population increased the most in Tartu (+3,700), Pärnu (+3,600) and Võru (+2,900) counties and decreased the most in Lääne (-3,600), Ida-Viru (-3,500) and Põlva (-2,400) counties. The largest population share was lost by Lääne county (17%), followed by Põlva county (9%). In the new borders, the population increase was largest in Võru county (8%).
There is a report in 2018 regarding an increase in migration.
January 17, 2018
...In total, (click here) the population of Estonia increased by 0.2% in 2017. Net migration has been positive in Estonia for three years in a row.
Over 13,520 children were born in Estonia in 2017 – a decrease of nearly 400 babies compared with a year ago. Considering that the number of women in childbearing age is decreasing, it shows that the number of births per woman has not decreased considerably.
The share of older people increases in the population as life expectancy continues to increase, Statistics Estonia said.
10,470 people immigrated to Estonia and 5,440 emigrated from Estonia in 2017, the preliminary data shows.
