Analytics, Baltic States – CIS, Economics, GDP, Latvia, Markets and Companies

At the beginning of the year, Nordea said it was expecting Latvia's GDP to increase 2.6% in 2015.

The GDP growth forecast has been cut due to the major uncertainty regarding the Russian market and investors and residents' concerns about the future, which were recently prompted by fluctuations on exchange markets. There are also concerns about China's development and its effect on the global economy, Nordea economic expert Gints Belevics explained.

As reported, the Central Statistical Bureau announced today that Latvia's GDP increased 2.7% in the second quarter of the year as compared to the same period in 2014. Compared to the first quarter, the increase was 1.2%.

A 2.7% growth is remarkable, taking into consideration that Lithuania's GDP increased 1.4% and Estonia's 1.9% in the second quarter, said Belevics. The latest data also give hope that investment amounts could continue to increase in the future, he added.

In particular, Belevics mentioned the traditional export leaders – wood and wood processing companies, furniture makers, which have been raising their export volumes for quite a long period already. He also pointed out the 3.4% reduction in construction volume, and the effect of Russia's embargo on food producers.