TALLINN, 26 September 2025 – The total IT expenditure and investments of public authorities have doubled in six years, increasing from €123 million to €257 million, the National Audit Office found in the report published today.
The Government’s decision of autumn 2021 to allocate €30 million to increasing the level of cybersecurity had a significant impact on the increase in IT expenditure. Mergers of agencies, transfers of functions and consolidation of IT services, including the establishment of the Estonian Information and Communication Technology Centre (RIT) in 2021, must also be highlighted as major impacts. The increase in IT investments and IT administrative costs has also been influenced by the general increase in hardware and software prices.
IT investments grew from €45 million to €83 million in six years. The largest investments were made in the areas of government of the Ministry of Economic Affairs and Communications, the Ministry of Finance and the Ministry of Social Affairs. Among the most expensive projects were the establishment of the Government Cloud (€11.09 million), the Register of Structural Support (€7.07 million) and the Election Information System (€5.69 million). The share of foreign financing in the investments ranged from 30–40%.
The IT administrative costs of the authorities covered by the overview doubled over the period. The IT administrative costs of the authorities and, in the case of IT units, also the management costs, as these are directly necessary for the operation of an IT unit, were analysed in the overview. IT administrative costs are the running costs related to IT, such as expenditure on hardware and software rental, hosting services, software maintenance. IT administrative costs doubled over the period – in 2019, they totalled €38 million, but in 2024 amounted to €77 million. IT administrative costs were higher in the Ministry of Economic Affairs and Communications and the Ministry of the Interior. The management costs required to maintain the IT units, including IT administrative costs, had increased from €37 million in 2019 to €84 million in 2024. Among IT houses, the IT and Development Centre of the Ministry of the Interior (SMIT) had the highest administrative costs in 2024.
Staff costs in the IT sector increased from €40 million in six years to €97 million in 2024. The staff costs of the ministries and agencies under review (excluding IT units) almost tripled over the period, increasing from €8 million to €22 million. The staff costs of IT units increased a little more than twofold, from €32 million to €75 million.
The number of employees in IT units increased from 1,064 to 1,743 in six years. Average gross wages in IT companies increased from €2,621 to €3,481, in line with the average in the ICT sector. In terms of the number of employees, the largest IT units in 2024 were the IT and Development Centre of the Ministry of the Interior (SMIT), the State Information System Authority (RIA) and the Centre of Registers and Information Systems (RIK). The average salary was the highest in the RIA in 2024. The difference in average monthly salaries was over €1,000 in IT units in 2024.
Although IT expenditure and investments have almost doubled over the period of 2019–2024, they are still below those assessed as necessary by the ministries themselves. This means that the needs for IT development are greater than can be covered by current funding.
The National Audit Office compiled an overview of IT spending and investment for 2019–2024 to provide a comprehensive picture of IT funding in the areas of government and their agencies that has so far not been published as a central view. So far, the Ministry of Justice and Digital Affairs, which is the ministry that leads this sector, has not produced a central overview, and it is not possible to get this information from the national budget either.
The state does have data on IT expenditure – it is included in the state accountancy and payroll accounting system – but so far it has not been systematically analysed. The National Audit Office emphasises that such information is necessary to understand where taxpayers’ money is spent and what results are obtained, but also to make informed management decisions in the IT sector and in public authorities in general.
The overview focused on ministries, their IT units, and the agencies, inspectorates and authorities in their areas of government that spend the most on IT. The Ministry of Defence and security agencies were excluded from the review as a whole.
Priit Simson
Communication Manager of the National Audit Office
+372 640 0777
+372 5615 0280
[email protected]
[email protected]
http://www.riigikontroll.ee/
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Posted:
9/26/2025 10:00 AM
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Last Update:
9/25/2025 3:01 PM
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Last Review:
9/25/2025 3:01 PM