Editing Economy of Estonia (section)

===Joining the euro===
Before joining the eurozone, the [[Estonian kroon]] had been pegged to the euro at a rate of 15.64664 EEK to one euro; before then, the kroon was pegged to the German mark at approximately 8 EEK to 1 DEM.

The design of [[Estonian euro coins]] was finalized in late 2004.<ref name="Tere_euro">{{cite web |title=The Estonian euro coin |website=Tere Euro |publisher=[[Bank of Estonia]] |date=2011-07-11 |url=http://euro.eesti.ee/EU/Prod/Euroveeb/application/controllers/handleSessions8cc5.html?lang=en&oid=11258 |access-date=2019-02-09 |archive-date=24 February 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210224161646/http://euro.eesti.ee/EU/Prod/Euroveeb/application/controllers/handleSessions8cc5.html?lang=en&oid=11258 |url-status=dead }}</ref> Estonia's journey towards the euro took longer than originally projected, owing to the inflation rate continually being above the required 3% before 2010,<ref>{{cite web |title=Tarbijahinnaindeksi muutus |language=et |trans-title=Consumer-price index change |publisher=Statistics Estonia |year=2019 |url=https://www.stat.ee/stat-tarbijahinnaindeksi-muutus |access-date=2019-02-09 |archive-date=9 February 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190209124006/https://www.stat.ee/stat-tarbijahinnaindeksi-muutus |url-status=dead }}</ref> which prevented the country from fulfilling the entry criteria. The country originally planned to adopt the euro on 1 January 2007 and officially changed its target date twice: first to 1 January 2008, and later to 1 January 2011.<ref name="HS">{{cite news |title=Alcohol and tobacco tax to rise in Estonia next year |location=Finland |newspaper=[[Helsingin Sanomat]] |date=25 May 2007 |url= http://www.hs.fi/english/article/Alcohol+and+tobacco+tax+to+rise+in+Estonia+next+year/1135227499218 |access-date=1 January 2009}}</ref>

On 12 May 2010, the European Commission announced that Estonia had met all criteria to join the eurozone.<ref>{{cite news |title=Estonia ready for euro |url=http://ec.europa.eu/news/economy/100512_1_en.htm |publisher=[[European Commission]] |date=12 May 2010 |access-date=12 May 2010}}</ref> On 8 June 2010, EU finance ministers.<ref>[http://www.actionforex.com/analysis/daily-forex-fundamentals/estonia-to-join-euro-1-january-2011-20100608115064/ Estonia to Join Euro 1 January 2011] {{webarchive |url= https://web.archive.org/web/20100611052826/http://www.actionforex.com/analysis/daily-forex-fundamentals/estonia-to-join-euro-1-january-2011-20100608115064/ |date=11 June 2010}}</ref> In July 2010, Estonia received the final approval from ECOFIN to adopt the euro onwards from 1 January 2011; on that date Estonia became the 17th [[eurozone]] member state and circulated alongside the [[Estonian kroon|kroon]] until 14 January 2011.<ref name="reuters-2011-01-01">{{cite news |last=Mardiste |first=David |title=Estonia joins crisis-hit euro club |date=1 January 2011 |work=[[Reuters]] |url= https://www.reuters.com/article/idUSTRE6BU0S720110101 |access-date=21 August 2012}}</ref> With that, Estonia became one of the first post-Soviet states to join the [[eurozone]].<ref name="HS" />

In August 2011, [[Standard & Poor's]] raised Estonia's credit rating from A to {{nowrap begin}}AA-.{{nowrap end}} Among various factors, S&P cited as contributing to its decision was confidence in Estonia's ability to "sustain strong economic growth."<ref>{{cite news |last=Ummelas |first=Ott |title=Estonia's Rating Raised to AA- by S&P on Economic Growth, Strong Finances |publisher=[[Bloomberg L.P.|Bloomberg]] |date=9 August 2011 |url= https://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-08-09/estonia-s-rating-raised-to-aa-by-s-p-on-growth-finances-1-.html |access-date=11 August 2011 |quote=Estonia's credit rating was raised by Standard & Poor's Ratings to the second-highest level in eastern Europe on the Baltic country's strong economic growth and solid public finances.}}</ref> Estonia's GDP growth rate in 2011 was above 8%, despite having negative population growth.<ref>{{cite web |title=Unemployment in Europe (monthly) |format=The chart shows data for the EU, Estonia, and Finland |agency=[[Eurostat]] |work=[[Google Public Data Explorer]] |url= https://www.google.com/publicdata/explore?ds=z8o7pt6rd5uqa6_&ctype=l&strail=false&bcs=d&nselm=h&met_y=unemployment_rate&fdim_y=seasonality:sa&scale_y=lin&ind_y=false&rdim=country_group&idim=country_group:eu:non-eu&idim=country:fi:ee&ifdim=country_group&tstart=948657600000&tend=1366747200000&hl=en&ind=false#!ctype=l&strail=false&bcs=d&nselm=h&met_y=unemployment_rate&fdim_y=seasonality:sa&scale_y=lin&ind_y=false&rdim=country_group&idim=country_group:eu:non-eu&idim=country:fi:ee&ifdim=country_group&tstart=948664800000&tend=1374613200000&hl=en_US&dl=en_US&ind=false |access-date=2014-01-24}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=GDP Growth Rate |agency=[[World Bank]] |work=Google Public Data |url= https://www.google.com/publicdata/explore?ds=d5bncppjof8f9_&ctype=l&strail=false&bcs=d&nselm=h&met_y=ny_gdp_mktp_kd_zg&scale_y=lin&ind_y=false&rdim=region&idim=country:EST&ifdim=region&tdim=true&tstart=895950000000&tend=1306180800000&ind=false |access-date=24 May 2013}}</ref>

The Estonian economy was hit by the [[COVID-19 recession]] before bouncing back with an 8.6% rise in GDP in 2021,<ref>{{cite web |title=Economic growth will slow |url=https://www.eestipank.ee/en/press/economic-growth-will-slow-01032022 |date=1 March 2022}}</ref> this was followed by the economic effect of the [[Russian invasion of Ukraine]] in February 2022 resulting in a fall in GDP of 1.3% in 2022 and high inflation which hit 24% <ref>{{cite web |title=Eurostat: Inflation in Estonia 24.2 percent in September |url=https://news.err.ee/1608734683/eurostat-inflation-in-estonia-24-2-percent-in-september |date=30 September 2022}}</ref> before falling to single digits in 2023.