Income inequality in Latvia and Lithuania was among the highest in the EU in 2025, according to Eurostat data, LSM reported. Latvia’s Gini coefficient, which measures wealth distribution, stood at 35.6, which was up from 34.2 in 2024 and the second-highest in the entire EU. Lithuania’s Gini coefficient was the EU’s third-highest at 35.5 in…
Three political groups in the Lithuanian parliament, the Seimas, have signed an agreement on a new coalition government, BNS reports. The new ruling coalition will include the Lithuanian Social Democratic Party (LSDP), the Union of Democrats for Lithuania, and the joint parliamentary group of the Lithuanian Union of Farmers and Greens and the Electoral Action…
Latvia’s State Treasury has raised EUR 1bn with a new bond issue on international financial markets, LSM reports. The government bonds have a maturity of seven years, carry a yield of 3.525%, and have a fixed coupon rate of 3.500%. The bonds were purchased by more than 70 investors, mostly European asset managers. Total investor…
The wealth of Estonian households has increased significantly, while wealth inequality has remained relatively stable over 2013-2024, according to the Bank of Estonia and Statistics Estonia, ERR reports. The household finance and consumption surveys showed that the median household had net wealth of EUR 103,300 in 2024, which was up more than double from EUR…
The Baltic States are likely to see a more than 2% decline in GDP per year due to poor mental health over 2025-2050, according to a new report from the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), ERR reports. The projected drop in GDP in Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania will be the highest of all…
The education inequality gap is widening between generations in Estonia, according to a new study, ERR reports. The Programme for the International Assessment of Adult Competencies (PIAAC) test shows that education inequality is growing faster in Estonia than in other OECD countries. Inequality has deepened in terms of education, language, and especially age. Young people’s…
The Estonian government has agreed on switching to need-based social benefits in 2028, Education Minister Kristina Kallas announced, BNS reports. She argued that the state and taxpayers could no longer afford distributing equal support to everyone, and that doing so was not even necessary. Better data would allow the state to provide better personalised services, Kallas…
The growth of household income in Lithuania will exceed inflation by 3-4 times in 2024, Social Security and Labour Minister Monika Navickiene forecasts, BNS reports. The Social Security and Labour Ministry expects that household income will rise by an average 12% on year in 2024, while the Finance Ministry expects Lithuania’s average annual inflation to…
