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Thursday, 25.04.2024, 11:11
Shadow economy proportion in Latvia at 24.2% last year
BC, Riga, 16.05.2019.
Print version
Print versionDuring a conference today dedicated to the shadow economy situation in the country, Stockholm School of Economics in Riga (SSE Riga) Professor Arnis Sauka said that the proportion of shadow economy in Latvia rose by 2.2 %age point last year to 24.2%.
He said that the shadow economy proportion in Latvia has risen for the past two years in a row.
The expert also pointed out that the shadow economy proportion in Latvia rose last year despite the fact that there was economic growth and an improvement of the overall economic situation.
The largest proportion of shadow economy activities last year was made up of under-the-table salaries - 43.5%.
There was an increase in the number of unregistered companies in Latvia last year - from 6.5% in 2017, to 8.6% in 2018. Sauka said that these are mostly new and small companies, even though there are larger companies who have not registered.
Construction was the sector with the largest shadow economy proportion in Latvia last year - 35.9%, followed by the retail sector - 24.8%.
When looking at the various Latvian regions, Zemgale Province had the highest proportion of shadow economy activities - 26.1%, followed by Riga - 24.3%, Latgale - 21.6%, Vidzeme - 19.9%, and Kurzeme - 19.1%.
Sauka also said that companies with a smaller number of employees are more frequently involved in shadow economy activities than companies with a larger number of employees.
As reported, the shadow economy proportion in Latvia reached 22% in 2017, up 1.3 percentage points from the previous year.
The volume of the shadow economy in the Baltic countries in 2009-2018 (as% of GDP)
The dynamics of the shadow economy in the Baltic countries in 2009-2018 (LT - Lithuania, LV - Latvia, EE - Estonia)
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