Latvia has over 223,000 pupils studying in schools of general education in the academic year 2025/2026, TV3 reports. However, due to the country’s demographic decline, the number of schoolchildren may drop to fewer than 200,000 by 2030. By 2040, the number may fall to a little over 120,000, which would be more than 40% fewer…
Estonia’s Minister of Finance, Jürgen Ligi, has rejected a proposal to lower the excise duty on diesel fuel temporarily, ERR reports. Ligi argued that broad-based tax cuts would have a very large and lasting negative impact on the state budget, and that targeted measures to support vulnerable households and sectors would be more sensible. In…
Estonia’s new motor vehicle tax and registration fee, which were introduced as of 1 January 2025, generated total revenue of EUR 151mn in 2025, ERR reports. Registration fee revenue totalled EUR 64.2mn in 2025, which was more than 50% less than the projected EUR 137mn. Meanwhile, revenue from the motor vehicle tax was close to…
The Free Trade Union Confederation of Latvia (LBAS) has proposed raising the country’s minimum monthly wage by at least EUR 55 to EUR 835 in 2027, LETA reports. Currently, Latvia’s minimum wage stands at EUR 780 per month, while the tax-free income threshold is EUR 550 per month. LBAS noted that under government rules, the…
Poverty in Lithuania has increased across the country, particularly in remote regions, LRT reports. Nearly 700,000 people are living below the poverty risk threshold. The average poverty level in rural areas is almost twice as high as in cities. In some municipalities, every third resident is living in poverty. Ugne Uzgale, head of strategy and…
Estonia’s GDP rose by 1.3% in the first quarter of 2026, compared to the same period of 2025, according to Statistics Estonia’s flash estimate, BNS reported. Compared to the fourth quarter of 2025, seasonally and working-day adjusted GDP rose by 0.6%. Robert Müürsepp, national accounts service manager at Statistics Estonia, noted that there were several…
Estonia’s exports of goods totalled nearly EUR 1.5bn in February 2026, which was down 1% from the same period of 2025, according to data from Statistics Estonia, ERR reports. Imports of goods totalled nearly EUR 1.9bn, which was up 6% over a year. Estonia’s monthly trade deficit thus amounted to EUR 426mn, which was EUR…
Home prices in Latvia rose by 1.9% in the fourth quarter of 2025 from the previous quarter, according to Eurostat data, LSM reports. Compared to the fourth quarter of 2024, housing prices increased by 11%. Residential property prices have risen by more than 120% and rental prices by more than 30% over ten years since…
The Latvian government is considering a windfall tax on fuel retailers, LETA reports. Under the proposal, fuel retailers would have to pay a solidarity tax if their actual retail price was more than 3% higher than the objectively calculated indicative retail price. Earlier, the government lowered the excise duty on diesel fuel temporarily until 30…