VILNIUS: In 2015, Lithuania’s exports declined by 5.7 per cent, compared to 2014, while imports decreased by 1.9 per cent, announced Statistics Lithuania recently.
According to the Statistics office, the decrease in exports was influenced by a decrease in exports of petroleum products.
“A decrease in the value of exported petroleum products and imported crude petroleum was conditioned by price drop for petroleum,” said Statistics Lithuania in its press release.
Exports of Lithuania origin goods dropped by 2.4 per cent, compared to 2014. After excluding mineral products, exports of goods of Lithuanian origin increased by 2.7 per cent, or more than the country’s GDP in 2015. Last year Lithuanian economy grew by 1.7 per cent.
In 2015, Lithuania’s exports to Russia saw the biggest decline among the country’s biggest trading partners. According to Statistics Lithuania, exports to Russia decreased by 38.2 per cent, exports of Lithuanian goods decreased by 47 per cent. The decline was mainly conditioned by Russian food embargo.
“Exports of food and agricultural products to Russia dropped by 54.5 per cent, of food and agricultural products of Lithuanian origin – by 71.7 per cent,” said Statistics Lithuania.
Despite the substantial drop in exports to Russia in 2015, Russia remained Lithuania’s most important single exports partner with the share of 13.7 per cent of total exports.
Lithuania’s exports to Russia have been mostly based on re-exports of goods from other countries. Most of the goods of Lithuanian origin were exported to Germany, Latvia and the United States in 2015, according to Statistics Lithuania.
