Consumer confidence in Estonia declined sharply while overall business confidence improved in October 2026, according to Statistics Estonia, ERR reports. The consumer confidence index stood at -32.4 percentage points, which was down from -23.5 points in September 2026. The confidence of Estonian consumers in their own financial situation and the country’s general economic situation decreased…
Several public institutions and agencies in the Baltic States took their websites offline on 21 October 2026 due to global critical security vulnerabilities in PHP-based applications. In Estonia, the Ministry of Education and Science shut down access to the online learning platform, Moodle, temporarily, ERR reported. Also, the National Archives of Estonia closed or limited…
Altogether 12,294 Lithuanian citizens returned to Lithuania while 11,753 moved away from the country in the first nine months of 2026, according to the State Data Agency’s preliminary statistics, LRT reported. In September 2026, the number of emigrants was higher than that of returnees. Until now, the number of Lithuanians returning home has been higher…
Latvia was hit by the strongest storm since 1966 on the night of 22-23 August 2026, LSM reported. Wind speeds exceeded 30 mps in some areas, according to the Latvian Environment, Geology and Meteorology Centre (LVGMC), LETA reported. Several injuries and one fatality were recorded. Electricity distributor Sadales Tikls reported that the storm cut power…
Lithuania’s Culture Minister, Lukas Alsys, called for a systematic shift away from the use of Russian language in public administration, BNS reported. Speaking in an interview with Ziniu Radijas, Alsys stressed that government institutions and municipalities in Lithuania communicated in the state language, Lithuanian. However, the policy of phasing out Russian should take into account…
Lithuania’s conservative opposition Homeland Union has submitted to parliament a draft national agreement on demographics for 2026-2040, ELTA reports. The proposal would expand state support for first-time homebuyers, strengthen family policy and access to services, improve work-life balance, and encourage the return of Lithuanian emigrants. Earlier, Prime Minister Mindaugas Sinkevicius proposed a cross-party agreement on…
Estonia’s consumer price index (CPI) rose by 2.2% on year in July 2026, according to Statistics Estonia, ERR reported. The annual increase in prices was the smallest since April 2021. The average price of goods went up by 1% and services by 3.9%. Compared to June 2026, the CPI rose by 0.5%. Lauri Veski, consumer…
Hourly labour costs in the Baltic States rose the fastest in Lithuania in the first quarter of 2026, according to Eurostat data, ELTA reported. Nominal hourly labour costs in the whole economy rose by 8.6% in Lithuania, 6.2% in Estonia, and 2.3% in Latvia from the first quarter of 2025. Hourly wage costs alone went…
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…
