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 |
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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 |
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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 |
Latvia
Inflation & Debt
Inflation |
017 2.9% 2018 2.6% 2019 2.7% 2020* 0.1% 2021* 2.6% *Estimate |
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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) |
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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 |
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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 |
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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.) |
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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 |
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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