Analytics, Baltic Export, Foreign trade , Good for Business, Latvia, Markets and Companies

Compared to January 2017, foreign trade balance has improved as exports in total foreign trade amount increased from 44.6% to 46.8%.

Calendar and seasonally adjusted data at current prices show that, compared to January 2017, in January 2018 the exports value at current prices went up by 19.2% and the imports value by 8.3%, whereas, compared to the previous month, the exports value increased by 5.8%, but the imports value reduced by 0.1%.

Main changes in exports in January 2018, compared to January 2017:

- exports of machinery and mechanical appliances; electrical equipment up by EUR 58.2 mill. or 42.7%,
- exports of basic metals and articles of basic metals up by EUR 27.1 mill. or 42.3%,
- exports of wood and articles of wood up by EUR 14.0 mill. or 9.4%,
- exports of mineral products up by EUR 13.2 mill. or 34.6%,
- exports of prepared foodstuffs up by EUR 11.6 mill. or 17.8%.

Main changes in imports in January 2018, compared to January 2017:

- imports of machinery and mechanical appliances; electrical equipment up by EUR 64.4 mill. or 32.0%,
- imports of basic metals and articles of basic metals up by EUR 29.6 mill. or 39.6%,
- imports of prepared foodstuffs up by EUR 17.0 mill. or 22.6%,
- imports of mineral products down by EUR 19.3 mill. or 18.5%,
- imports of vehicles, aircraft, vessels and associated transport equipment down by EUR 14.5 mill. or 15.0%.

In January, the main export partners of Latvia in trade with EU countries were Lithuania (15.7% of total exports), Estonia (11.2%), Germany (7.3%) and Sweden (6.9%), whereas the main import partners were Lithuania (18.0% of total imports), Germany (10.1%), Poland (9.5%) and Estonia (7.9%).

Foreign trade of Latvia in January 2018 by country group (at current prices)

Russia was the main partner in trade with third countries; its share in total Latvian exports in January accounted for 6.1%, whereas in imports – for 7.3%.

Main commodities in exports of Latvia in January 2018 (at current prices)

The rise in the exports of machinery and mechanical appliances in January 2018, as compared to January 2017, was facilitated by an increase in the exports of turbojets, turbopropellers and other gas turbines by EUR 41.5 mill. In turn, exports of pharmaceutical products dropped as exports of medicaments decreased by EUR 3.5 mill. or 12.1%.

Main commodities in imports of Latvia in January 2018 (at current prices)

Rise of imports of iron and steel in January 2018, as compared to January 2017, was mostly affected by the increase in imports of flat rolled products of iron and non-alloy steel of EUR 10.0 mill. or 49 1%. In turn, a drop was experienced in the imports of mineral fuels, mineral oils and products of their distillation, as the imports of natural gas in gaseous state dropped by EUR 22.4 mill. or 66.8%.

More information on the foreign trade of Latvia by month and quarter, as well as by country group and commodity group is available in the Foreign trade section of the CSB database.