The average hourly wage of Estonian health care personnel increased in all occupational groups in 2020, according to a wage survey of health care personnel conducted by the National Institute for Health Development (NIHD). Wage growth accelerated due to the spring’s state of emergency, several health care providers paid higher wages due to the state of emergency, in addition, the increased night and overtime bonus is calculated at a higher rate.
The median monthly salary (including all bonuses) of physicians in Estonia was 3,036 euros in 2020, 1,582 euros for nurses and midwives and 991 euros for caring personnel, increasing by 13.3%, 11.5% and 12.4%, respectively. "Compared to last year, wage growth accelerated. As the analysis is based on March data, one of the factors influencing wage growth is the state of emergency related to COVID-19 and therefore the payment of bonuses and higher-than-usual wages,” commented Kai Maasoo, an analyst at health statistics department at the NIHD.
The average gross hourly wage in Estonia was 8.37 euros in the first quarter of 2020, an increase of 5.9% over the year. “The gross hourly wages of physicians, nurses, midwives and caring personnel have grown faster than the overall Estonian average. The average hourly wage of physicians is 2.1 times higher than the overall average hourly wage in Estonia and the hourly wage of nurses and midwives is 1.1 times higher. At the same time, the average hourly wage of caring personnel is one third lower than the Estonian average," Maasoo explained.
The average gross hourly wage (including bonuses) of physicians increased by 12.2% over the year, dentists by 9.3% and nurses-midwives and caring personnel by 10.2% and 10.8%, respectively.
The data of the wages of health care personnel are available in the Health Statistics and Health Research Database.