Economy - overview Lithuania, the Baltic state that has conducted the most trade with Russia, has been slowly rebounding from the 1998 Russian financial crisis. High unemployment, at 12.5% in 2001, and weak consumption have held back recovery. Trade has been increasingly oriented toward the West. Lithuania has gained membership in the World Trade Organization and has moved ahead with plans to join the EU. Privatization of the large, state-owned utilities, particularly in the energy sector, is underway.

GDP purchasing power parity - $27.4 billion (2001 est.)

GDP - real growth rate 4.8% (2001 est.)

GDP - per capita purchasing power parity - $7,600 (2001 est.)

GDP - composition by sector
agriculture: 9%
industry: 32%
services: 59% (2000 est.)

Population below poverty line NA%

Household income or consumption by percentage share
lowest 10%: 3.1%
highest 10%: 25.6% (1996)

Distribution of family income - Gini index 34 (1999)

Inflation rate (consumer prices) 1.3% (2001 est.)

Labor force 1.5 million (2001 est.)

Labor force - by occupation industry 30%, agriculture 20%, services 50% (1997 est.)

Unemployment rate 12.5% (2001 est.)

Budget
revenues: $1.59 billion
expenditures: $1.77 billion, including capital expenditures of $NA (2001 est.)

Industries metal-cutting machine tools, electric motors, television sets, refrigerators and freezers, petroleum refining, shipbuilding (small ships), furniture making, textiles, food processing, fertilizers, agricultural machinery, optical equipment, electronic components, computers, amber

Industrial production growth rate 15% (2001 est.)

Electricity - production 10.966 billion kWh (2000)

Electricity - production by source
fossil fuel: 20.16%
hydro: 3.06%
other: 0% (2000)
nuclear: 76.78%

Electricity - consumption 6.898 billion kWh (2000)

Electricity - exports 6.3 billion kWh (2000)

Electricity - imports 3 billion kWh (2000)

Agriculture - products grain, potatoes, sugar beets, flax, vegetables; beef, milk, eggs; fish

Exports $4.8 billion (f.o.b., 2001)

Exports - commodities mineral products 21%, textiles and clothing 19%, machinery and equipment 11%, chemicals 8%, wood and wood products 6%, foodstuffs 4% (2000)

Exports - partners Latvia 15%, Germany 14%, UK 8%, Russia 7%, Ukraine 5% (2000)

Imports $5.7 billion (f.o.b., 2001)

Imports - commodities mineral products 23%, machinery and equipment 16%, chemicals 9%, textiles and clothing 9%, transport equipment 9% (2000)

Imports - partners Russia 28%, Germany 15%, Poland 5%, France 4%, UK 4% (2000)

Debt - external $3.6 billion (2001 est.)

Economic aid - recipient $228.5 million (1995)

Currency litas (LTL)

Currency code LTL

Exchange rates litai per US dollar - 4.000 (fixed rate since 1 May 1994); note - litai is the plural of litas; effective 2 February 2002 the litas are pegged to the euro

Fiscal year calendar year

NOTE: The information regarding Lithuania on this page is re-published from the 2002 World Fact Book of the United States Central Intelligence Agency. No claims are made regarding the accuracy of Lithuania Economy 2002 information contained here. All suggestions for corrections of any errors about Lithuania Economy 2002 should be addressed to the CIA.