Baltic tiger
The term Baltic tiger for Estonia , Latvia or Lithuania (or for the three Baltic states together) is based on the Asian " tiger states ". It aims at the above-average economic growth that these three states experienced after regaining their sovereignty in 1991. The boom ended in 2007 due to the financial crisis .
background
The reasons for this growth include the expansion of economic relations with other European countries, in particular membership of the European Union , which has existed since 2004, and support payments from the EU structural funds.
This enabled Baltic companies to gain direct access to the markets of the European economies and to reduce their dependence on Russia . At the same time, taxes for companies and individuals were drastically reduced, which made it possible to lure a large number of foreign - especially Scandinavian - companies into the country.
Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania now have tax and contribution ratios that are among the lowest in Europe. In addition, Estonia is attractive for foreign direct investments thanks to its low flat tax.
The adoption of the euro was planned for 2007. As the inflation rate in the three countries did not yet meet the EU guidelines, the introduction was postponed. Estonia joined the euro area on January 1, 2011, Latvia on January 1, 2014, and Lithuania on January 1, 2015.
The name creates an analogy to the "tiger states" of Southeast Asia , the collective term for South Korea , Singapore , Hong Kong and the Republic of China (Taiwan) . The name Celtic tiger for Ireland is also common . In 2006 the economies of Latvia and Estonia grew faster than those of the People's Republic of China .
In the course of the financial crisis in 2007 in Estonia and Latvia, and from 2008 in Lithuania, too, there was a massive decline in gross domestic product. This was considerably stronger than in the European Union as a whole.
statistics
Annual GDP growth
Rate of change in real gross domestic product compared to the previous year
| 2000 | 2001 | 2002 | 2003 | 2004 | 2005 | 2006 | 2007 | 2008 | 2009 | 2010 | 2011 | 2012 | 2013 | 2014 | 2015 | 2016 | 2017 | 2018 | Total (2000-2007) |
Total (2000-2010) |
|
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Estonia | 10.0% | 7.5% | 7.9% | 7.5% | 6.5% | 9.5% | 10.4% | 7.7% | −5.4% | −14.7% | 2.3% | 7.6% | 4.3% | 1.9% | 2.9% | 1.9% | 3.5% | 4.9% | 3.9% | 73.1% | 45.9% |
| Latvia | 6.9% | 8.0% | 6.5% | 8.6% | 8.9% | 10.2% | 11.6% | 10.0% | −3.5% | −14.4% | −3.9% | 6.4% | 4.0% | 2.4% | 1.9% | 3.0% | 2.1% | 4.6% | 4.8% | 83.0% | 43.2% |
| Lithuania | 3.3% | 6.7% | 6.9% | 10.2% | 7.4% | 7.8% | 7.4% | 11.1% | 2.6% | −14.8% | 1.6% | 6.0% | 3.8% | 3.5% | 3.5% | 2.0% | 2.4% | 4.1% | 3.5% | 72.4% | 53.3% |
| Eurostat data. Real GDP growth rate | |||||||||||||||||||||
GDP per capita
In dollars PPP
| 2000 | 2001 | 2002 | 2003 | 2004 | 2005 | 2006 | 2007 | 2008 | 2009 | 2010 | Change 2000–2007 |
Change 2000–2010 |
|
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Estonia | 9,909 | 10,935 | 12,044 | 13,284 | 14,882 | 16,618 | 19,012 | 20,961 | 20,327 | 17,695 | 18,519 * | 111.5% ** | 69.6% ** |
| Latvia | 7,688 | 8,542 | 9,315 | 10,262 | 11,506 | 13,181 | 15,355 | 17,485 | 17.187 | 14,291 | 14,460 | 127.4% ** | 69.3% ** |
| Lithuania | 8,437 | 9,257 | 10,088 | 11,410 | 12,622 | 14,218 | 15,927 | 18,108 | 19,145 | 16,564 | 17.185 | 114.6% ** | 85.6% ** |
| Data from IMF, World Economic Outlook Database 2011 , own calculation | |||||||||||||
* estimated value ** own calculation