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The most popular degrees among the Riigikogu members are of social sciences and humanities
According to the collection 101 biographies: the 15th Riigikogu, the members of the 15th Riigikogu are mostly business managers, lawyers and historians, making up one third of the Riigikogu. The summary of the collection, published in collaboration between the parliamentary library of the National Library of Estonia and the Chancellery of the Riigikogu, reveals the professions of the representatives who influence the life of Estonia and answers the question of who the longest-serving member of the Riigikogu is.
The Riigikogu includes 14 business managers, 12 lawyers and 8 historians. These are the most represented fields of study. There are also multiple journalists, engineers, communication specialists, economists, education specialists, social workers, teachers, servicemen, administrative managers, agronomists, philologists and philosophers. There are 22 fields of study that are represented by just 1 person in the parliament.
86 parliament members have higher education, 14 have secondary education and 1 member has secondary vocational education.
Experience and age distribution
There is a good balance between the number of first-time MPs and experienced politicians who have served in the Riigikogu several times. There are 40 first-time MPs, 24 MPs are serving for the second time, 14 for the third time, 10 for the fourth time, 6 for the fifth time, 6 for the sixth time and 1 MP for the eighth time. The record is held by Jürgen Ligi who has been an MP since the 8th Riigikogu.
If we take a look at the age distribution, there are 2 members of the Riigikogu in their 20s and 4 in their 70s. 32 MPs are in their 40s, making this age group the largest in the current Riigikogu. The average age of the members of the Riigikogu is 49.8.
101 biographies summarises the background of the members
The collection 101 biographies: the 15th Riigikogu introduces the members of the 15th Riigikogu (data as of 15 June 2023). The publication includes data from the questionnaires submitted by the MPs and it was written in collaboration between the Chancellery of the Riigikogu and the National Library of Estonia. The short biographies have been compiled since the 9th Riigikogu.
You can find out even more about former MPs, their lives and activities in the e-publications Members of the 1st Riigikogu and Women in the Estonian Parliament 1917–1940, 1992–2019 (both in Estonian).
The National Library of Estonia is a parliamentary library, providing members of the Riigikogu and officials of the Chancellery of the Riigikogu with the literature they need in their work and helping them find research articles, studies, reports and other countries’ practices that support the acquisition of necessary information and background material. The parliamentary reading room in the Toompea Castle is a reading room of the National Library. You can read about the parliamentary library of the National Library of Estonia here: https://www.rara.ee/uudised/parlamendiraamatukogu-on-spetsialisti-raamatukogu/
