Estonia to raise pay for police officers and rescue workers in 2027
Estonia's government has allocated €7.3 million to raise salaries in the interior ministry's area, mainly for lower-paid frontline staff. Pay will rise in 3,764 positions from the start of next year.
The Estonian government has set aside €7.3 million to increase pay in the Ministry of the Interior's area of administration, Interior Minister Igor Taro of the Eesti 200 party said on Thursday at the government's weekly press conference. The extra funding is meant for rescue workers, police officers, border guards and emergency response operators at the Emergency Response Center, which handles emergency calls. Salaries will rise in 3,764 positions from the beginning of next year.
Money directed at lower earners
Almost 8,000 people work in the ministry's area of administration. Taro stressed that the state's financial resources are limited, so the money is not being spread evenly as a percentage increase but directed mainly at lower-paid frontline employees.
Who gets what
Rescue workers will see the biggest rise: €140 more per month. This lifts the minimum rescue worker salary by nearly 9 percent and the average by 8 percent. According to the minister, the average rescue worker's pay will reach roughly 85 percent of the Estonian average, which was €2,092 in 2025. Taro acknowledged this is a necessary step but not a sufficient one.
The minimum police officer salary will go up by 4.4 percent, while the average pay of a patrol police officer will climb above the Estonian average. The minimum salary of an emergency response operator will increase by almost 5 percent.
Technicians and customer support specialists at SMIT, the ministry's IT agency, will also receive a raise of €90 per month.
Supervisors and the ministry
The raise also covers immediate supervisors of frontline staff who themselves carry out operational duties. Other managers' pay will not rise, and salaries at the Ministry of the Interior itself will remain unchanged.
