Dynamics of educational differences in emigration from Estonia to the old EU member states.

This study examines the changes in emigration from Estonia, focusing on differences in the level of education of migrants, shedding more light on East-West migration,in particular the migration of skilled labour.

We used anonymous individual-level data for all emigrants from the register-based Estonian Emigration Database compiled by Statistics Estonia for the period 2000–2008. The analysis shows that Estonia suffered no significant loss of skilled labour from Estonia during this period. There is also evidence that emigration has spread into a wider range of population groups, including the less educated, since Estonia joined the European Union in 2004.