Latvian Business

Latvian statistics office Centrala statistikas parvalde today released the flash estimate for Latvia’s economic growth in Q3 2011, showing that it has grown 5.7%, posting the best post-recession result yet. Quarter-on-quarter growth reached 1.3%.

The growth is the best y-o-y result Latvia has achieved ever since it recovered from the recession: Q2 result, itself a previous record, stood at 5.3%. Nevertheless, Latvia is still lagging behind the other two Baltic states, by more than one quarter: Lithuania reached a 6.2% growth already in the Q2, whereas Estonian GDP during the period grew by 8.4%.

This time, the GDP growth has not been fuelled just by the exports: in Q3, retail trade also grew by 5.7%. In comparison, the industrial output grew by a more modest 2%.