The longitudinal population database can be used for various basic and applied research on population processes (birth rate, mortality, migration, marriage, divorce) and population status.
The database includes personalized, comprehensive data from the Population Register on all Estonian residents and their population events (births, deaths, marriages, divorces, changes of residence) until the end of 2019. Additionally, the database contains personal data on the receipt of state pensions and benefits (various types of family benefits, social benefits, etc.) and income subject to social tax in the years 2000-2018.
The development of the longitudinal population database is based on the following important principles.
- The universality of the database is expressed in the fullest possible coverage of the Estonian population, which creates the prerequisites for dealing with the social phenomena at a detailed level (including at the level of different small groups and regions).
- Personality means that uniquely identified individuals (by pseudonym codes) are the basic unit of the database.
- The integration of different data components gives the database synergy and is a source of analytical extension.
- Integrating information from different time points in a person gives the database longitudionality.
- As the database compiles a significant part of the total population information of present-day Estonia, it is developed with a view to multifunctionality, i.e., applicability for performing various analytical tasks.
Related projects
- Personal research support group grant funded by the Estonian Research Council PRG71 “Contemporary demographic developments in Estonia”: In search of pathways towards a more sustainable society”. Info in ETIS: https://www.etis.ee/Portal/Projects/Display/17a10339-605d-4529-9d20-eb13f2766172.
- Research project RITA1/02-82-02 “Mobile lifestyle and contact data accuracy in public registers” funded by the Ministry of Education and Research of the Republic of Estonia. Info in ETIS: https://www.etis.ee/Portal/Projects/Display/ad02e4cf-7af9-480b-9129-3d7964c0a4d1
Completed studies
The data developed within the IMO have been used in research topics such as the impact of increasing retirement age on the employment of older people, mixed partnership analysis to gain experience in building and using a register-based longitudinal database for the project.
Puur, A., Leppik, L., & Klesment, M. (2015). Changes in pension take-up and retirement in the context of increasing the pension age: the case of Estonia in the 2000s. Post-Communist Economies, 27(4): 497−516.
Soosaar, O., Puur, A., & Leppik, L. (2020). Does raising the pension age extend the working life? Evidence from pension age reform in Estonia. Journal of Pension Economics and Finance. Appears soon.
Use of data
The databases of censuses and registers that have passed the development cycle are made available and used through Statistics Estonia, which is also an IMO partner. To use the data, a standard application must be submitted to Statistics Estonia. The data can be used in a secure workplace at Statistics Estonia or in the Internet environment. Information on the use of data for research is available on the website of Statistics Estonia.
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