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Latvia
LATVIA

Capital city    Riga (0.7m pop., 2018)
Population    1.9 million (2018)
Official language    Latvian
Territory    64 573 km2
GDP    29.5 billion EUR (2018)
GDP growth    4.8% (2018)
Currency    Euro (since 2014)
Inflation    2.5% (2018)
Unemployment    7.4% (2018)
Avg. Gross Salary    1 004 EUR (2018)
Corporate Income Tax    0% - 20% 
Accumulated FDI    15.1 billion EUR (2018)
3rd highest productivity growth among the OECD (2018)

  • Much of the growing economy has been closely linked with the membership of Latvia at the EU, NATO, the OECD, Schengen zone and the fact that capital Riga is the 3rd largest city in the Northern Europe

  • Latvia in brief:

  • From 2011 to 2017 the average annual growth reached 3.5%

  • In 2017, the GDP exceeded the pre-recession levels by 0.7% (in 2007). Furthermore, the economic growth of 4.6% in 2017 was the highest over the last 6 years and among TOP 5 within the EU

  • Latvian export numbers have reached historical high 17.6 billion Euros, from which 12.3 billion were in goods and 5.3 billion Euros in services (2018)

  • Key export sectors included:

    • Woodworking, comprising almost 13% (2.2 billion Euros) of total exports

    • Electrical appliances – slightly above 7% (1.2 billion Euros)

    • Transport comprised close to 13% (2.2 billion Euros) of total exports

    • ITC almost 4% of total exports or 0.7 billion Euros

  • Since 2010, the accumulated foreign direct investment in Latvia has almost doubled, reaching 15.1 billion Euros in 2018. Among largest investors by origin:

    • Sweden comprises around 17.5% (2.6 billion Euros);

    • Russia around 11% (1.6 billion Euros);

    • Other notable European investors are Netherlands and Germany comprising 7.5% (1.1 billion Euros) and almost 5% (0.7 billion) accordingly

  • Most prominent business incentives:

    • 80% tax rebate on real estate tax, withholding tax for dividends and standard CIT

    • 0% tax rate on reinvested profit

    • EU support programmes for high added-value technologies, innovation & technology transfer, infrastructure, employee trainings and others

    • State support grants in agriculture and labour employment

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Additional information:

 

 

Other general information on Latvian economy and business environment:

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