Around 5,000 third‑country nationals come to Estonia every year for seasonal work, mostly on farms, according to the Police and Border Guard Board (PPA), ERR reports. Most seasonal workers come from Ukraine, Moldova, Uzbekistan, India, and Georgia. Before Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, many seasonal workers came from Belarus as well, but Estonia has since…
An interagency commission of the Estonian government has proposed several measures to reduce the consumption of alcohol in the country, ERR reports. The commission has published a framework plan for Estonia’s alcohol policy for 2026-2035. The document calls for raising the alcohol excise tax, shortening retail alcohol sales hours, reducing the number of licensed outlets,…
Every major party in Estonia has added to the state’s debt burden, according to Kaspar Oja, senior economist at the Bank of Estonia, ERR reported. While the biggest budget deficits emerged during the coronavirus pandemic, Estonia has had structural deficits every year since 2017, Oja noted. His analysis found that when in government, the Conservative…
The Latvian parliament, the Saeima, has approved amendments extending a reduced excise tax rate on diesel fuel until the end of 2026, LSM reports. The diesel tax was lowered from EUR 467 to EUR 396 per 1,000 litres and for marked diesel fuel used in agriculture from EUR 70 to EUR 21 per 1,000 litres…
Estonia’s GDP growth will reach 2.4% in 2026 and remain close to 2.5% in 2027 and 2028, according to the Bank of Estonia’s latest forecast, ERR reports. In March 2026, the central bank had projected annual GDP growth of around 2.8%. Strong fiscal stimulus will boost economic growth in 2026, with increased household and public…
Latvia’s GDP growth will fall from 2.1% in 2025 to 1.9% in 2026, before rising to 2.2% in 2027, the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) forecasts, LSM reports. Average annual inflation will decline from 3.8% in 2025 to 3.6% in 2026 and 3.2% in 2027, the OECD projects in its latest survey of…
The International Monetary Fund (IMF) recommended that the Estonian government stabilise public debt by limiting budget spending and increasing revenue, ERR reports. IMF experts warned that if current policies continued, public debt would become unsustainable. GDP growth alone will not solve the country’s long-term challenges, they pointed out. Achieving more sustainable growth would require increasing…
Latvia’s State Revenue Service (VID) has awarded the country’s largest corporate taxpayers in 2025, Baltic News reports. The largest taxpayer in the Riga region was global technology consulting company Accenture’s Latvian branch. Latvian industrial holding UPB was the largest taxpayer in Kurzeme, while optical fiber manufacturer Light Guide Optics International (Lightguide) was the largest taxpayer…
Lithuania’s GDP will grow by 3% in 2026 and 2.3% in 2027, according to Swedbank’s latest macroeconomic outlook, BNS reports. In January 2026, the bank projected that GDP growth would reach 3.5% in 2026 and 2.5% in 2027. Nerijus Maciulis, Swedbank’s chief economist, said that growth would be spurred by consumption, strong exports, and record…
