A clear public attitude has emerged in Estonia: people broadly support the right of a severely and incurably ill person to end their life with medical assistance, with support reaching 78%. This indicates the issue is no longer at the margins of society, but part of mainstream values. At the same time, support is not uniform and reflects different levels of caution across groups.
What the survey shows in substance
The results indicate that most respondents view this issue through the lens of human dignity and self-determination rather than as an abstract moral argument. Support is clearly dominant, suggesting euthanasia is increasingly seen as a real-life question rather than only an ideological one. That shifts public attention from principle-level confrontation toward practical conditions.
The primary divide runs across age groups
Support for euthanasia remains notably strong even among older Estonians: in 65+ groups, those in favor still clearly outnumber those opposed. In other words, greater caution with age does not automatically translate into rejection.
Support for euthanasia by age group (%)
Chart type: chart | Label | Support (%) | | --- | --- | | Total | 78.2 | | Age groups | null | | 15-24 | 79.7 | | 25-34 | 90.5 | | 35-49 | 83.7 | | 50-64 | 74.5 | | 65-74 | 68.9 | | 75+ | 68 |
Who is more doubtful, who is more opposed?
The strongest concentration of doubt and opposition appears among non-Estonians, especially in older age groups. Still, the picture is not binary: support does not disappear in those groups, but caution becomes more prominent given the irreversible nature of the decision.
Support for euthanasia by ethnicity (%)
Chart type: chart | Label | Support | Opposition | Do not know | | --- | --- | --- | --- | | Estonians | 83.7 | 11 | 5.3 | | Other + Russian | 67.2 | 24.8 | 8 |
What this implies
Support levels are now high enough for this issue to merit calm, substantive policy-level handling. This creates space to discuss what conditions and safeguards would be necessary in Estonia if such an option were ever formally considered. Under the current legal situation, many people and families remain in a gray zone where choices are emotionally difficult and the framework is unclear.
In January 2026, Opinion Estonia conducted a representative online survey with 1,018 respondents. The exact question was: “Kas raskelt ja parandamatult haigel inimesel peaks olema õigus arsti abiga oma elu lõpetada?” In this article, “support” combines “yes, definitely” + “rather yes”, and “opposition” combines “rather no” + “definitely not”. Very small subgroup results should be interpreted with caution.