Official figures show that applications for e-Residency have outpaced Estonian births this year

Statistics released today by the Republic of Estonia show that the number of e-Residency applications now exceeds the yearly number of births in the country. According to official data, the total number of 2017 births to November was 10,269, compared with 11,096 e-Residency applications for the same period.

“With over 27,000 e-Residency applications to date, we’ve seen the initiative’s popularity grow steadily since launch.” said Kaspar Korjus, Programme Lead, e-Residency. “e-Residency offers the freedom for every world citizen to easily start and run a global EU company from anywhere in the world, and as of October 2017, our e-Residents own over 4,000 enterprises.”

The project has attracted applications from over 150 countries from across the globe. Finland topped the applicant list, with the UK coming in 5th place for the total number of submissions when ranked by country. Of those applying for e-Residency, 41% submitted an application in order to start a location independent international business, 27% were looking to bring business to Estonia, 13% stated they were advocates of the initiative and 8% applied to benefit from the programme’s secure authentication technology.

KasparKorjus concluded “Estonia is the first country creating a borderless digital society for global citizens by offering e-Residency. Anyone, regardless of nationality or location, can apply for the transnational, government-issued digital identity and benefit from a platform built on inclusion, legitimacy, and transparency.” Companies founded by e-Residents work in a range of industries. Of these sectors, business and management consultancy, computer programming, non-specialised trade, tech consultancy and business support services proved to be the most popular.

“By launching e-Residency, the Estonian government aimed to make Estonia bigger – to grow our digital economy and market with new customers, to spark innovation and attract new investments. We’re delighted with e-Residency’s progress to date; but are even more excited to see how the project will grow in the future.”