Latvia - Foreign trade

Like most of the former Soviet republics, Latvia's trade was formerly dominated by the other Soviet states, but it has been relatively successful in achieving a wider range of trade partners.

Latvia's major commodity exports include wood (29%), iron and steel (6.3%), textile yarn (5.6%), furniture (4.5%), and fish (1%).

In 2000 Latvia's imports were distributed among the following categories:

Consumer goods	18.8%
Food	10.6%
Fuels	12.1%
Industrial supplies	30.1%
Machinery	19.7%
Transportation	8.3%
Other	0.4%

Principal trading partners in 2000 (in millions of US dollars) were as follows:

COUNTRY	EXPORTS	IMPORTS	BALANCE
United Kingdom	325	85	240
Germany	321	499	-178
Sweden	203	216	-13
Lithuania	142	242	-100
Denmark	109	115	-6
Estonia	99	199	-100
Russia	78	370	-292
Netherlands	75	110	-35
Finland	36	276	-240
Poland	30	152	-122