SEB survey: Residents of Ida-Viru County have the weakest economic security and financial satisfaction among the Baltic states

Residents of Ida-Viru county have the lowest level of economic security and satisfaction with their financial situation in Estonia. While the average level of financial dissatisfaction among Estonians is 27 per cent, in Ida-Viru county it is as high as 44 per cent – the highest level among the Baltic states. Forty-one and 38 per cent of people are not satisfied with their economic situation in Latvia and Lithuania, respectively.

Indicators reflecting economic security (such as sufficient income and its dynamics over the past 12 months, scale of savings, loan burden), point to the economic difficulties Ida-Viru County is facing. In Ida-Viru County, financially vulnerable people account for almost one-quarter of the population. Up to 22 per cent of the residents of the region lack the means to buy the basic essentials for life, such as food and clothes. This figure is higher only in Lääne-Viru County where roughly one-third of the population cannot afford the basic essentials.

SEB Economic Analyst Mihkel Nestor comments on the situation as follows: “The lower level of satisfaction with the economic situation could only have been predicted in Ida-Viru County. The unemployment rate in the county has consistently been the highest in Estonia every year, while the average income ranks as one of the lowest. Moreover, the region has recently been hit hard by the difficulties in the chemical and oil industry sector, which plays an important role in the local economy. In contrast, Ida-Viru County is not in the direst situation when compared to the other Baltic states, as there are regions in both Latvia and Lithuania where the situation is even more difficult.”

Similarly low was the scale of savings in this county that would allow survival of periods of acute economic difficulty or making big purchases. Less than 20 per cent of the population of Ida-Viru County has a financial buffer to pay unavoidable costs for a period exceeding three months, should their regular income become interrupted. However, more than 80 per cent of the residents have no savings at all, or have saved less than the total of the unavoidable costs for a period of three months. In comparison, the figure for Lääne-Viru County residents is much lower – 58 per cent. A significant portion of the population of Ida-Viru County – 14 per cent – is shouldering an excessive debt burden. This figure is the highest in Central Estonia at 17 per cent; otherwise, Estonia shines with the strongest indicators of economic security.

The map of the economic security of the residents of the Baltic states is available here:
http://www.seb.ee/balti-riikide-majandusliku-kindlustunde-kaart.

For more information:

Julia Piilmann
Communication Manager
Marketing and Communication Division
SEB Pank

Phone +372 665 5340
Address Tornimäe 2, 15010 Tallinn
E-mail julia.piilmann@seb.ee
www.seb.ee

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