Economics and Agriculture in the Baltic States
The republics of Lithuania, Estonia, and Latvia conform the Baltic States in Eastern Europe. Historic political entities within the regions and former constituents of the Soviet Union, the Baltic States attained their modern independence during the early 1990s. Before the turn of the century, the three Baltic Republics had achieved remarkable transitions into free market economies and democratic governance. In 2004, Lithuania, Estonia, and Latvia simultaneously joined the European Union and the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO). About a decade later, between 2011 and 2015, the Baltic States became the most recent members of the Eurozone by adopting the Euro as their official currency.
Given historic and cultural similarities as well as shared interests and values, the Baltic States cooperate closely in matters related to governance, security, and economic integration. Furthermore, Lithuania, Estonia, and Latvia comprise a large geographical region with a total of over 4.300 kilometers of strategic coastline along the Baltic Sea. This article explores the status of the economy and the agricultural industry in Lithuania, the largest of the Baltic States.
Economics and Agriculture in the Baltic States
The Republic of Lithuania has a total territory of more than 65.000 square kilometers, which is somewhat larger than West Virginia. Likewise, Lithuania is the most populous of the Baltic States with almost 3 million citizens, over 65% of which live in an urban setting, notably the capital city of Vilnius, which has more than 500.000 inhabitants. Currently, Lithuania’s annual gross domestic product (GDP) is of approximately US$80 billion and its national economy has experienced positive growth upwards of 1.5% in recent years. The national economy is divided into 4% agriculture, 30% manufacturing, and 66% services. Similarly, the Lithuanian agricultural industry employs 8% of the national labor force, while manufacturing employs some 20% and services employ another 72%. Meanwhile, the agriculture industry utilizes about 45% of the national territory, while another 35% is forested.
In terms of natural resources, Lithuania has peat, arable land, and amber. Within manufacturing, the national industry is focused on machinery, electric motors, television sets, refrigerators & freezers, petroleum refining, shipbuilding, furniture, textiles, food processing, fertilizers, optical equipment, lasers, and electronics. Meanwhile, the country’s agricultural industry has as main products grain, potatoes, sugar beets, flax, vegetables, beef, milk, eggs, pork, cheese and fish. Moreover, as a member of the European Union, the Lithuanian domestic industry is protected and subsidized under the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP). In terms of trade, Lithuania’s main partners are fellow EU members, notably Latvia, Poland, Germany, the Netherlands, and Estonia, as well as Russia.
In recent years, the average per capita protein intake of animal origin amongst the Lithuanian population has been of 75 grams daily. Meanwhile, cereals, roots, and tubers supply some 39% of the average food energy intake in the country. Simultaneously, land distribution in Lithuania has evolved throughout the last several decades. Back in 1992, permanent pastures and meadows in the country covered about 460.000 hectares, while arable land covered almost 2.9 million hectares and permanent crops accounted for merely 44.000 hectares. More recently, by 2014, permanent pastures and meadows had increased to some 570.000 hectares, while arable land represented approximately 2.5 million hectares and permanent crops covered 34.000 hectares.