Vilnius region became the richest in the Baltic countries: “Impressive Vilnius leap”

It is also interesting that in 2022 the nominal gross domestic product (GDP) of the Vilnius region per capita has caught up with the European Union (EU) average, so to see how average Europeans live, it is enough to go to Vilnius,” the economist explained on Facebook.

It is said that Kaunas, which is fast catching up with Riga, is not inferior to Vilnius. According to Ž. Mauric, in 2015 the gap between Riga and Kaunas reached 30 percent, and in 2022 – already only 19 percent.

“Most other regions of Lithuania also showed rapid growth, but the gap between Vilnius and other regions of Lithuania remains considerable. The relatively greater weight of less prosperous regions in Lithuania explains why Estonia, which is essentially a one-city state,” he taught.

It should also be borne in mind that 60% of the energy is produced in the Tallinn region (Harju County). 69% of Estonia’s GDP is generated in the Riga region. Latvia’s GDP, and in the Vilnius region – just 44 percent. Lithuania’s GDP (69% of Latvia’s GDP is created in the Riga region).

Estonia’s GDP per capita is higher than Lithuania’s. Estonia’s GDP per capita in 2022 reached 76 percent EU average, and Lithuania – 67 percent, despite the fact that the Vilnius region’s indicator reached 100 percent. EU average, and Tallinn – 99 percent.

At that time, the Latgale region of Latvia remains the poorest region in the Baltic States, and the gap between Latgale and other Baltic regions continues to increase.

“This is a considerable challenge for Latvia (and not only) – especially considering the increased confrontation between East and West and the fact that Latvians (46%) do not constitute the majority of the population in this region (in the largest city of Latgale, Daugpils, Latvians constitute only 21% of the population, and the majority of the population consists of Russians and Belarusians).

During my bicycle trip along the eastern border of the Baltic States, I noticed that in other towns of Latgale (e.g. Kraslava, Ludza, Dagda) the Russian language prevails in the public space, and it is Russian, not English, that is the “lingua franca” in a large part of Latgale ( the Latvian/Latgalian language is widely used in the northern part of Latgale, English is also more widely used there)” – the economist gave an example.

It is mentioned that the poor use of Latvian and English languages ​​distances this region not only economically, but also in terms of value from the European Union, while the low level of economic progress and the widespread use of the Russian language create more favorable conditions for the authoritarian regimes that have taken over Russia and Belarus to influence the people of this region.

As the economist compares, in Estonia’s Narva region (Ida Viruma), Estonians make up an even smaller share (18%) of the population than Latvians in Latgale (46%), but this region is almost twice as rich as Latgale (and four times as much as Russia).

According to Ž. Mauric, this reduces the desire of the region’s residents to admire the regimes of Russia and Belarus.