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Estonia keeps attracting the best and brightest from around the world, who invest and build global businesses. Its e-Residency programme had a record-breaking start in 2025, generating €68M in direct income for the state in just six months, or twice as much as initially expected. This figure is almost equal to the total contribution for the entire previous year, which stood at €66.8M.
Program director Liina Vahtras called the results “overwhelmingly positive.” “These strong results give us every reason to expect further growth in tax revenues in the second half of the year, raising the program’s annual contribution by at least a third,” she noted.
Taxes make up the bulk of the income, with €26.2M from labour taxes and €39.7M from dividend taxes. In addition, e-residents paid €2.1M in state fees tied to applications and company registrations.
According to Estonia’s Minister of Economic Affairs and Industry, Erkki Keldo, the programme’s success reflects the country’s favourable business climate. “Estonia’s simple and flexible tax and business environment, together with world-class digital services, make it easier for entrepreneurs to start and grow companies here without unnecessary bureaucracy. The results show we are on the right track in bringing more capital and innovative businesses to Estonia,” he said.
There are also other factors in play. The beginning of 2025 was particularly strong because many e-residents declared dividends ahead of a slight tax increase, which created a surge in January and February. Still, Estonia has the OECD’s best tax system and, as emphasised by Vahtras, revenues have remained higher in the following months as well. “This shows that e-resident companies are resilient and continue to grow, with enough of a buffer to handle unexpected changes,” she said.
e-Residency program director Liina Vahtras
The programme also continues to expand in reach. From January to June, Estonia received 7,994 new e-residency applications, or 23 per cent more than the same period last year. E-residents created 2,634 new companies, an 8 per cent increase. Demand has grown sharply in France and Italy, where applications have risen by 50 to 80 per cent, while interest in Germany, the United Kingdom, and Latin America remains traditionally strong.
E-residents not only pay taxes but also spend money on Estonian services. A recent study found that in 2024, they generated €15.5M in revenue for local service providers such as accountants, lawyers, and virtual office companies: 36 per cent more than in 2023. For some firms, serving e-residents makes up the majority of their business.
“E-residents value the chance to manage their companies flexibly, using Estonia’s digital tools that are faster and clearer than in many other countries,” said Piret Kerem, Chief Operating Officer of Xolo, one of the leading platforms serving e-residents. “The advantage isn’t just the ease of company formation, but the whole functioning business environment around it. Many European countries still approach entrepreneurship in outdated ways, making it unnecessarily complex. Through e-Residency, Estonia has the chance to ‘export’ its business environment.”
Since its launch in 2014, the e-Residency programme has attracted more than 128,000 people from 185 countries, who have founded over 36,000 companies in Estonia. Altogether, it has generated €342M in direct economic impact for the country. Looking ahead, Estonia is developing a card-free version of the digital ID, expected by 2027, which will make the programme even more seamless and secure.
