From 1 February until 30 June, Eesti Pank and Statistics Estonia will be carrying out research to collect data on the assets, liabilities, income and expenses of Estonian households. The data collected during the survey will be used by central banks in their economic policy analysis. The results of the survey will be published in 2026.

Households that have previously taken part in the survey will be contacted by Statistics Estonia, together with new households that are selected by random sampling. In total, around 3600 households will be invited to participate in the survey. Households can complete the questionnaire for the survey themselves using the online questionnaire of Statistics Estonia, or can answer the questions in a telephone interview. Statistics Estonia and Eesti Pank ensure that the data of survey participants are protected and protect the anonymity of the participants. The data collected are published only in a generalised form.

The questionnaire for the survey has two parts, one covering the household as a whole, and the other covering members of the household individually. The questions in the survey on the household as a whole are answered by the person who knows the family finances best, and the individual questions are answered by household members aged 16 and over.

The Household Finance and Consumption Survey (HFCS) has been carried out regularly in the countries of the euro area since 2010. The survey aims to collect internationally comparable data on all the countries of the euro area that central banks can then use in their economic policy analysis for assessing the impact of monetary policy, or analysing financial stability and payment systems. These data can also be accessed by researchers from outside the central banks. The HFCS is the only dataset in Estonia that gives a picture of how the assets and liabilities of households are distributed, and how they change over the years. The HFCS survey was previously run in Estonia in 2013, 2017 and 2021. The results of earlier surveys can be found on the Eesti Pank website.

The collection of scientific articles (2021–2023) “The distribution of wealth within households and wealth inequality” by Merike Kukk, Jaanika Meriküll and Tairi Rõõm from the Research Division of Eesti Pank is based to a large extent on the data from the previous HFCS. The series received the Mihhail Bronštein Award in Economics from the Estonian Academy of Sciences.

For more on the HFCS, see the websites of Eesti Pank, Statistics Estonia and the European Central Bank.

Additional information:
Hanna Jürgenson
Eesti Pank
Tel: 56 920 930
Press enquiries: [email protected]