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Latvia in facts
On the world map, Latvia is located on the east coast of the Baltic Sea at the crossroads of Northern and Eastern Europe. Latvia, a parliamentary republic, is bordered by Estonia to the north, Russia and Belarus to the east, and Lithuania to the south, with a maritime border with Sweden to the west. The total length of Latvia’s coastline is 498 km.
Fast facts
| International memberships: | EU and NATO since 2004, WTO since 1998, OECD since 2016 |
| Capital: |
Riga |
| Other major cities: | Daugavpils, Liepaja, Jelgava, Jurmala, Ventspils, Rezekne, Valmiera, Jekabpils |
| Population as of 1 January 2020: | 1.908 million |
| Time: | Eastern European Time (GMT +2 hours) |
| Area: | 64 594 km2 |
| Language: | Latvian (official); Russian, English, and German are also widely spoken |
| Political system: | Republic, parliamentary democracy |
| Legal system: | Based on civil law |
| Currency: | Euro (EUR) |
Quick economy overview
| GDP at current prices (2019): | EUR 30.48 billion (USD 34.12 billion) |
| GDP per capita (2019): | EUR 15 928 (USD 17 831) |
| GDP growth (2019): | 2.2% |
| GDP growth forecast (2020): | -7% |
| Inflation rate (2019): | 2.8% |
| Accumulated FDI (2019): | EUR 15.98 billion (USD 17.95 billion) |
| Accumulated FDI per capita (2019): | EUR 8 371 (USD 9 403) |
| Credit ratings (Standard & Poor’s / Moody’s / Fitch) | A+ / A3 / A- (investment grades) |
Main industries
In 2019, main industries according to their share in total gross value added, were wholesale and retail trade (14.0%), manufacturing (11.7%), real estate activities (12.4%), transportation and storage (8.2%).
Export and import
Latvia is an open economy with close links to trading partners in the region. Latvia’s main trading partners are EU countries with 72% of total turnover by value of goods.
Broken down by country, the most significant export markets are Lithuania, Estonia, Russia, Germany and Sweden. Most of Latvia’s exported goods are agricultural and food products (mainly cereal products), as well as wood and its articles, machinery and equipment, metals and their articles.
The main importers to Latvia are Lithuania, Germany, Poland, Estonia and Russia. Latvia’s main imported goods are machinery and equipment, food products, vehicles, chemicals and fuels.
