Estonia’s e-residents launch more than 4,200 companies as business creation jumps 36%

Foreign entrepreneurs using Estonia’s digital residency scheme have created an average of 600 companies a month this year, generating €57.6m in taxes and state fees in the first seven months

Estonia’s e-residents have founded more than 4,200 companies so far this year as the country’s digital business programme continues to attract entrepreneurs from around the world.

Company formation by e-residents is up 36 per cent on the same period in 2025 and 47 per cent on 2024, with an average of around 600 new businesses being created each month.

Estonia has also added 9,000 new e-residents since the beginning of the year. Among people who joined the programme during its first two months, 34 per cent had already gone on to establish a company – the highest proportion recorded by the scheme, new data shows.

The businesses are also becoming an increasingly important source of income for the Estonian state. During the first seven months of 2026, companies associated with e-residents generated €57.6m in direct revenue, including €35.3m in labour taxes, €19.5m in dividend income tax and €2.8m in state fees.

Since the programme was launched in 2014, its direct economic contribution to Estonia has reached €457m.

More than 144,000 people from 187 countries have become Estonian e-residents over the past decade, founding or co-founding more than 43,600 companies. Around one-in-five new Estonian companies is now founded by an e-resident each year.

The programme allows foreigners to obtain a secure digital identity giving them remote access to Estonian public services and the ability to establish and run an EU-based company online without living in the country.

Its expansion is also feeding business into Estonia’s professional-services sector. E-residents spent more than €18m with companies listed on the programme’s official service-provider marketplace in 2025, with turnover from servicing them rising 17 per cent year on year.

The government says the effect extends beyond company registration, creating demand for accounting, tax, legal and other business services.

Erkki Keldo, Estonia’s Economic Affairs and Industry Minister, said: “e-Residency allows entrepreneurs from around the world to choose Estonia as their home for business and brings companies and income to our economy that would otherwise go elsewhere.

“Alongside this, the demand for Estonian accounting, tax, legal and other business services is growing, giving our companies new clients and the opportunity to grow in the global market.”

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