exports

In March 2013, Latvia's foreign trade turnover grew by 10% despite the low demand from some trading partners. The value of the exports and imports of commodities increased by 5.3% and 14.0% month-on-month respectively.

In February 2013, the external trade turnover of Latvian goods remained almost the same month-on-month, with exports increasing by 1.9% and imports dropping by 1.6%. The annual rise in Latvian exports reached 9.6% in February, which is a good indicator, particularly against the background of the unstable external environment.

In January 2013, the Latvian external trade turnover of goods dropped, with exports down by 4.6% and imports by 4.1% month-on-month. The drop in external trade activity was determined both by seasonal factors and a weaker external demand. The annual growth rate was still positive: year-on-year, exports grew by 11.7% and imports by 3.2%. The external trade balance of Latvian goods thus continued to improve, evidencing the durability of competitiveness of Latvian producers.

For a second consecutive month, a small surplus (1.3 mil. lats) formed in the Latvian balance of payments current account in December. Month-on-month, the surplus dropped because of the increased goods external trade deficit as the increase was only partially compensated by the increase in the positive balance of services trade.

Despite the unfavourable developments in the global economy and the low total demand in the external markets, Latvian external trade activity grew substantially in 2012, exceeding even the most optimistic predictions. Owing to the improved competitiveness achieved by Latvian entrepreneurs in the economic renewal period of the previous three years, the increase in the exports of Latvian goods was more rapid year-on-year (15.0%) than imports (12.7%).

According to the flash estimate published by the Central Statistical Bureau (CSB), gross domestic product (GDP) grew 1.3% in the fourth quarter of 2012 (quarter-on-quarter, seasonal factors excluded). The annual growth rate was even higher, at 5.1%. Thus in 2012 overall, GDP grew by about 5.5%.

The external trade turnover drop of 4.1% in November did not much change this year’s success story in external trade, since the annual growth rate of Latvian goods exports still remained high: in November, goods exports increased 27.9% year-on-year. As predicted previously, the annual increases in goods exports and imports in 2012 will exceed 10%.

Albeit the overall demand in external markets is low, in October 2012 Latvian external trade of goods retained remarkable annual growth rate because of the competitiveness regained during the crisis years. The annual export growth was at 22.6%, which is almost twice that of imports (annual growth at 12.1%).