Events, data and analysis from the Baltic economies
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Swedish banking group SEB has agreed to pay $33 million to New York’s financial regulator, bringing to a close a long-running US investigation into weaknesses in its anti-money laundering controls, including those at its Baltic subsidiaries. The settlement,…
Lithuania’s government approved its draft 2027 state budget on 16 October, proposing €27.9 billion in expenditure while maintaining defence spending at 5% of GDP and increasing wages and pensions. The draft, which will be submitted to parliament, projects…
Lithuania’s government approved national measures targeting Russian businessmen Alisher Usmanov and Mikhail Fridman on 14 October, following their removal from the European Union’s sanctions list. According to the Lithuanian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the measures provide for the…
Retail wood pellet prices in Latvia have risen sharply, driven by supply constraints, production costs and demand from export markets, according to an assessment by the Competition Council. Between October 2025 and late August 2026, the average listed…
Estonia’s goods imports increased by 10% year on year in August 2026, while exports grew by just 3%, according to Statistics Estonia. Imports reached €1.84 billion and exports €1.48 billion, leaving a trade deficit of €360 million. Higher…
Lithuania’s GDP reached €85.1 billion in 2025, with real economic growth of 3.0%, according to the latest annual national accounts estimate. The previous quarterly-data estimate had put GDP at €84.3 billion and growth at 2.9%. 2025 change Information…
Housing prices continued to rise across the Baltic states in the second quarter of 2026, but the three markets are increasingly moving in different ways. According to the national statistical agencies, Lithuania recorded the fastest annual increase at…
PhotoEstonia, Latvia and Lithuania have effectively moved the common operational horizon for Rail Baltica from 2030 to 2034, while narrowing the first-stage priority to a continuous Tallinn–Kaunas–Poland backbone. On 22 September, roughly 247 km of the main line…
PhotoJuly interrupted Estonia’s return towards export parity with Latvia. But the underlying numbers show why gross export growth alone gives an incomplete picture of the Baltic economies. In August, Baltic Focus asked whether Estonia was about to reclaim…
PhotoFood prices are falling across the Baltics while fuel costs are rising. Yet annual inflation in August ranged from 1.5% in Estonia to 3.2% in Latvia and 6.1% in Lithuania. The difference lies less in the direction of…
PhotoFor the first time this year, food and grocery retail growth across the three Baltic states came together almost exactly
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