Browse a full set of economic indicators

Latvia

Includes Latvia real Gross Domestic Product growth rate, with latest forecasts and historical data, GDP per capita, GDP composition and breakdown by sector.

Browse additional economic indicators and data sets, selected by Global Finance editors, to learn more about Latvia economic outlook, debt to GDP ratio, international trade performance and population trends. Rankings of Latvia best banks and safest banks are also available.

Basic Information

Government Type: Parliamentary republic

Capital City: Riga

GDP & Economic Information

Macroeconomy & Sovereign Data

Central Bank Bank of Latvia
Currency Lati (LVL)
International Reserves USD 5.49 billion (2021)
International Monetary Fund (IMF), data retrieved January 2022
Gross Domestic Product – GDP USD 37.20 billion (2021 estimate)
IMF – World Economic Outlook, October 2021
GDP (Purchasing Power Parity) USD 65.05 billion (2021 estimate)
IMF – World Economic Outlook, October 20

GDP Data

Real GDP growth 2017 3.3%
2018 4%
2019 2%
2020* -3.6%
2021* 4.5%

*Estimate
GDP per capita – current prices USD 19,538.90 (2021 estimate)
IMF – World Economic Outlook, October 2021
GDP per capita – PPP USD 15,487.00 (2021 estimate)
IMF – World Economic Outlook, October 2021
GDP (PPP) – share of world total 0.05% (2021 estimate)
GDP – composition by sector agriculture: 3.8%
industry: 19.2%
services: 64%
(2020 estimate)
Gross domestic expenditure on R&D; (% of GDP) 0.6% (2019)

OECD, retrieved January 2022
Inflation 2017 2.9%
2018 2.6%
2019 2.7%
2020* 0.1%
2021* 2.6%

*Estimate

Inflation & Debt

Inflation 017 2.9%
2018 2.6%
2019 2.7%
2020* 0.1%
2021* 2.6%

*Estimate
Government Bond Ratings Standard & Poor’s: A+

Moody’s: A3

Standard & Poor’s / Moody’s (January 2022)
Unemployment rate 2017 8.7%
2018 7.4%
2019 6.3%
2020* 8.1%
2021* 7.7%

*Estimate
Household saving rates 9.1% (2020)
Public debt (General government gross debt as a % of GDP) 2017 39%
2018 37.1%
2019 37%
2020* 43.5%
2021* 47.6%

*Estimate
Public deficit (General government net lending/borrowing as a % of GDP) 2017 0.3%
2019 0.2%
2019 0.5%
2020* -3%
2021* -7.8%

*Estimate
Market value of publicly traded shares N/A
Largest Companies N/A

Import/Export

Exports as percent of GDP (Exports of goods and services) 60.3% (2020)
World Bank – World Development Indicators (updated Feb 2022)
Shares in world total merchandising export 0.09% (2020)
Shares in world total commercial services export 0.1% (2020)
Total exports USD 20.2 billion (2020 estimate)
Export commodities Lumber, broadcasting equipment, whiskey and other hard liquors, wheat, packaged medicines (2019)
Total imports USD 19.8 billion (2020 estimate)
Import commodities Refined petroleum, broadcasting equipment, cars, packaged medicines, aircraft (2019)

Exports – major partners Lithuania 16%, Estonia 10%, Russia 9%, Germany 7%, Sweden 6%, United Kingdom 6% (2019)
Imports – major partners Russia 21%, Lithuania 14%, Germany 9%, Poland 7%, Estonia 7% (2019)

Competitiveness & Trade

Current account balance USD -0.38 billion (2021 estimate)
IMF – World Economic Outlook, October 2021
Current account balance by percentage of GDP -1% (2021 estimate)
IMF – World Economic Outlook, October 2021
FDI inflows 2019 USD 967 million
2020 USD 874 million
2021 USD 873 million
FDI Outflows 2019 USD 205 million
2020 USD –105 million
2021 USD 268 million
Value of cross-border M&A, by country of purchaser 2018 –3.5 million
2019 –1.2 million
2020 3.1 million
2021 –23 million
Cross-border M&A deals worth over $3 billion completed in 2014 N/A
Cross-border M&A deals worth over $3 billion completed in 2015 N/A
Best countries for doing business Economies are ranked on their ease of doing business. A high ease of doing business ranking means the regulatory environment is more conducive to the starting and operation of a local firm.

Overall ranking: 19 out of 190 countries (2020)

Subcategories:

Starting a Business: 26 out of 190 countries
Dealing with Construction Permits: 56 out of 190 countries
Getting Electricity: 61 out of 190 countries
Registering Property: 25 out of 190 countries
Getting Credit: 15 out of 190 countries
Protecting Minority Investors: 45 out of 190 countries
Paying Taxes: 16 out of 190 countries
Trading across Borders: 28 out of 190 countries
Enforcing Contracts: 15 out of 190 countries
Resolving Insolvency: 55 out of 190 countries
World Bank – Doing Business 2020
Global competitiveness ranking 88 out of 141 (2019)
Index of Economic Freedom Ranking: 18 / Score: 74.8 (Mostly Free)

(100=totally free 0=totally repressed)

The Heritage Foundation – 2022 Index of Economic Freedom

Population & Geographic Data

Total Area 64,589 sq km



Total Population 1990 2.7 million
2000 2.4 million
2010 2.1 million
2015 2.0 million
2020 1.9 million
Urban population as % of total population 1960 53%
1980 67.1%
2000 68.1%
2020 68.3%
Population median age 44.4 years (2020 estimate)
Population growth rate -1.11% (2022 est.)
Life expectancy 75.9 years (2022 est.)
% of population living on less than $3.10 a day 0.7% (last available estimate, 2019)
Inequality of wealth distribution (Gini index) 34.5 (last available estimate, 2019)

(0=perfect equality, 100=absolute inequality)
Freedom House rating Total score: 88/100

Status: Free

Political Rights: 37/40

Civil Liberties: 51/60 (2022)

(1 represents the most free, 7 the least free rating)
Total telephone subscribers as % of population Fixed: 11.2%

Mobile: 108.8% (2020)

(fixed-telephone subscribers and mobile-cellular subscribers)
(fixed-telephone subscribers and mobile-cellular subscribers)
Internet users as % of total population 88.9% (2020)

Language & Religon

Languages Latvian (official) 56.3%, Russian 33.8%, other 0.6% (includes Polish, Ukrainian, and Belarusian), unspecified 9.4%; note – data represent language usually spoken at home (2011 est.)
Literacy Total population: 99.9%

Male: 99.9%

Female: 99.9% (2018)

Definition: age 15 and over can read and write
Religions
Lutheran 36.2%, Roman Catholic 19.5%, Orthodox 19.1%, other Christian 1.6%, other 0.1%, unspecified/none 23.5% (2017 est.)

World Rankings

Population 1.9 million
Mercer Cost of living index N/A
C02 Emissions per capita 4.0 metric tons per capita (2018)

Global Finance Rankings & Awards: Latvia

Global Finance Magazine holds several conferences and awards ceremonies throughout the year to recognize the winning financial institutions and companies in a host of categories including World’s Best Trade Finance Banks, World's Biggest Banks, World's Safest Banks, World's Best Developed & Emerging Markets Banks, World's Best Internet Banks, and World’s Best Investment Banks.


Data Sources:

IMF World Economic Outlook

UN World Population Prospects

World Inequality Report

S&P Global Ratings

Moody’s

Fitch Ratings

IMF Direction of Trade Statistics (DOTS)

UN Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD)

CIA The World Factbook

World Bank’s World Integrated Trade Solution

Forbes Global 2000

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