Non-cash payments accounted for 74% of consumer payments in Latvia in August 2025, which was down from record 78% in February 2025, according to the Bank of Latvia’s latest payment radar survey conducted by Latvijas Fakti, The Baltic Times reports. Meanwhile, cash payments accounted for 26% (22%) of all payments. In recent years, the share…
Estonian fashion retailer Baltika Group has ceased operations and filed for bankruptcy, BNS reports. The group will lay off all of its 120 employees in Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania. Baltika pointed to a prolonged difficult financial situation and unfavourable market conditions in the Baltic States. The group’s parent company, European Lingerie Group (ELG), will continue to…
Lithuania’s GDP rose by 3% over a year in 2024 to EUR 79bn at current prices, according to the State Data Agency’s (VDA) revised data, BNS reports. Gross value added in manufacturing rose by 2.9% and in wholesale and retail trade by 2.6% in constant prices. Growth in professional, scientific, and technical activities stood at…
Business sentiment in Latvia improved in all economic sectors in September 2025, according to the Central Statistical Bureau’s (CSP) latest survey, LSM reports. The business confidence indicator was 4.8% in retail trade, which was up 1.5 percentage points from August 2025. Business confidence stood at 1.7% in services (up 1.3 points), negative 3.5% in manufacturing…
Estonia’s fuel market remained stable in 2024, ERR reported. Olerex retained market leadership with annual sales of EUR 551.6mn, which was largely unchanged from 2023. Motor fuel accounted for 81% of overall turnover. The company’s profit remained stable at EUR 6.7mn. Circle K’s revenue declined to EUR 369.3mn, while its net profit increased to EUR…
Latvia’s relations with the US are deep and positive, Latvian Foreign Minister Baiba Braze assured, LETA reports. Speaking in an interview with LTV, Braze noted said that US President Donald Trump’s administration appreciated Latvia for being a good ally and for not engaging in public “loud rhetoric.” Earlier, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio met…
Estonia’s annual inflation may reach 6% or higher in 2025, driven by the rise in energy and food prices, local analysts forecast, ERR reports. Triinu Tapver, analyst at LHV Pank, said that inflation could amount to as much as 6.2-6.5% in 2025, which would be up sharply from the bank’s earlier estimate of 4.5% at…
Estonia’s annual GDP totalled EUR 39.5bn at current prices in 2024, which was down 0.3% from 2023, according to data from Statistics Estonia, ERR reports. In the fourth quarter of 2024, the GDP totalled EUR 10.6bn, which was up 1.2% from a year earlier. This marked the end of ten quarters of recession in the…
The World Trade Organization (WTO) has again suspended the case over China’s trade restrictions on Lithuania, following a second request from the European Commission (EC), BNS reports. Apparently, EC lawyers have failed to find sufficient proof of Chinese restrictions on Lithuanian goods. The case may now be halted for a year and then terminated if…