The number of residents of Hiiumaa according to the population register fell below 10,000 in the first quarter of 2013, Hiiu Leht, the newspaper of Estonia's second largest island, said.
Number of Hiiumaa residents drops below 10,000
The number declined from 10,030 as of year-end to 9,964 by Feb. 1 and to 9,919 by April 1. Those who leave mostly become residents of Tallinn. Of the 69 people who left the Hiiumaa population register in January 56 went on to become Tallinners. Of February's 35 leavers 18 did the same, just like 10 out of the 21 people who left in March.
People who registered as residents of Hiiumaa numbered 15 in January, including eight who came from Tallinn. In February 11 people and in March 10 people were registered as residents of Hiiumaa. Altogether the population number of Hiiumaa declined by 111 during the quarter.
Monika Paljasma, adviser to the county government, said the latter figure equals about the average number of leavers during a year. The people who leave mostly are young people who have studied or worked in Tallinn already for some time and now formalize their change of place of residence, mostly in order to be able to use the free public transport offered by Tallinn to registered residents of the capital city.