Xifres de comerç exterior de Letònia

Foreign Trade in Figures

The Latvian market is open and competitive, with foreign trade representing 119.4% of GDP in 2020 (World Bank, latest data available). According to the Central Statistical Bureau of Latvia, in the same year exports were comprised mostly of machinery and mechanical appliances (18.9%), wood and related articles (16.5%), prepared foodstuff (9.2%), vegetables (8.8%), and base metals (8.2%). Imports were led by machinery and mechanical appliances (22.5%), chemical products (10.7%), prepared foodstuff (9.6%), and vehicles (9.1%).

With its 530 km-long Baltic coastline on the west, Latvia is bordered by Belarus and Russia to the east, by Estonia to the north and by Lithuania to the south. This geographical position allows the country to function as a bridge between the two major economic areas of the EU and the CIS. At the same time, it also makes the country vulnerable to the external context, as shown during the Russia-Ukraine crisis and the following sanctions towards the Russian Federation. As a result, the volume of trade with Russia now accounts for less than 10% of the total while the EU has the lion share with nearly 70%. In the meantime, the country is also seeking new opportunities beyond Europe, with China and several countries in Central Asia. For 2020, the main partner countries were Lithuania (16.3%), Estonia (11.7%), Russia (8.5%) and Germany (7.2%). The EU is the main origin of the country’s imports (mostly from Lithuania, Germany and Poland, at 17.9%, 10.4% and 10.2%, respectively), with the main non-EU partners being Russia (6.1%) and China (4.2%).

The country has a structural trade deficit (notably due to its energy imports), which stood at 1.2% of GDP in 2020 (World Bank). In the same year, Latvia exported USD 16.2 billion worth of goods, importing USD 18.3 billion (+3.1% and -3.1 year-on-year respectively). Trade in services recorded a surplus, with exports standing at USD 4.9 billion (-19.6% y-o-y) against USD 2.9 billion of imports (-16.6%). Preliminary figures from the National Statistical Office show that in the first ten months of 2021 foreign trade turnover of Latvia at current prices reached EUR 29.35 billion –26% more than in the corresponding period of 2020. The exports value stood at EUR 13.3 billion (+ 22.2%), whereas the imports value comprised EUR 16.05 billion (+29.3 %).