E-residents set up a record 5.5K companies in Estonia in 2025

2025 was a record year for the e-residency program. Last year, Estonia gained 13,828 new e-residents, which is 20% more than the previous year and the best result in the last six years. Most applications for e-residency came from Germany (1,122, up 49%), France (1,016, up 56%), and Ukraine (921, up 5%).

E-residents founded 5,556 new companies in Estonia, exceeding the record result of 2024 by 15%. Most new Estonian companies were founded by e-residents with citizenship of Ukraine, Spain, Turkey, Germany, and France.

The economic effect of the e-residency program for the country amounted to €124.9M. Of this, €54.5M came from labor taxes, €66M from taxes on income in special cases (mainly dividends), and €4.3M from state fees for applying for e-residency and setting up businesses. In the first year of operation, 17% of companies paid taxes totaling around €7M.

The e-residency program was created at the end of 2014 to provide citizens of other countries with secure access to Estonia's e-services. To date, more than 135,000 people (excluding those whose status has been revoked) from 185 countries have become e-residents. Since the program's inception, e-residents have established more than 39,000 Estonian companies. The economic impact of e-residency to date has been approximately €400M.