According to the Minister of Economic Affairs and Information Technology Tiit Riisalo, e-residency has proven itself as a profitable way to earn additional tax revenue for Estonia.

"Estonia's wealth growth is driven by strong exports and an entrepreneurial mindset. All countries are competing to attract foreign capital and talent, and e-Residency continues to be Estonia's unique trump card in the world. E-Residency is an opportunity for foreign entrepreneurs to use the constantly developing services of Estonia's digital country, and the programme gives a reason to contribute to the Estonian economy from the outside, so that their companies can grow, develop, create jobs and pay taxes here," said Riisalo.

According to Liina Vahtras, CEO of e-Residency, the main selling point of the programme is the Estonian company created by an e-resident, and the programme focuses on ways to make starting a business faster and more convenient than before.

"The biggest obstacle here is the lack of a fully digital alternative to the e-resident's physical digital ID card, which means an average two-month waiting time for the e-resident before establishing a company. This year, the goal is to develop a completely card-free solution that would enable e-residents to identify themselves safely at the Estonian embassy and activate their digital ID immediately with a mobile app without waiting for the card," said Vahtras. She added that in cooperation with the Police and Border Guard Board and SMIT, e-residents can expect a remote identification solution within a few years that will allow them to extend the validity of their digital ID in the future without going to the embassy.

In the first six months of 2023, 32% of new e-residents founded a company in Estonia, which was 3% more than a year earlier. During last year, additional 4592 Estonian companies were launched by e-residents. The most new Estonian companies were founded by e-residents with the citizenship of Spain (678), Ukraine (397), and Germany (345). Citizens of those countries also lead the list of people joining the programme. In 2023, 12106 e-resident applications were received, which was 2.3% more than the year before.

Labour taxes accounted for the majority of tax receipts last year – 63% or €40.7 million. The remaining 37% was collected from income tax in special cases (mainly from dividends), which was received from Estonian companies of e-residents, amounting to €23.6 million.

Estonian companies of e-residents operating in the field of information and communication paid the most (€20.6 million). This was followed by companies in the sector of professional, scientific and technical activities (€16.2 million) and companies in the field of administrative and auxiliary activities (€7.2 million).

Estonia launched the world’s first e-Residency programme at the end of 2014, with the aim of providing non-residents safe access to its fully digital public services. Over the years, over 110,700 people have been granted e-resident status with close to 60,000 e-resident digital ID cards currently in use. E-residents have set up more than 29,400 companies in Estonia, establishing 20% of all new Estonian companies annually.

Since its launch, e-Residency has generated more than 213 million euros in direct revenue for the Estonian state budget through tax revenue and state fees. The programme also generates indirect revenue through the growth of Estonian companies listed on the e-residency Marketplace, offering business, financial, insurance, and other consulting services to e-resident founders.