View source for Baltic Tiger

{{short description|Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania during their periods of economic boom}}
{{use dmy dates|date=July 2024}}

[[File:Vilnius CBD.jpg|thumb|250px|[[Vilnius]] has the largest GDP in Baltic States €36 billion.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://lithuania.lt/governance-in-lithuania/vilnius-surpasses-baltic-capitals-and-eu-average-a-baltic-tiger-on-the-rise/|title=Vilnius Surpasses Baltic Capitals and EU Average: A Baltic Tiger on the Rise|website=lithuania.lt|date=22 May 2025}}</ref>]]

[[File:View from Latvian Academy of Sciences building.09.jpg|thumb|250px|[[Riga]] has the second largest GDP in Baltic States €26 billion.]]

[[File:Tallinna südalinna panoraam (2021).jpg|thumb|250px|[[Tallinn]] has the third largest GDP in Baltic States €24 billion.]]

'''Baltic Tiger''' is a term used to refer to any of the three [[Baltic states]] of [[Estonia]], [[Latvia]], and [[Lithuania]]  during their periods of [[business cycle|economic boom]], which started after the year 2000 and continued at least until 2007. The term is modeled on [[Four Asian Tigers]], [[Tatra Tiger]], and [[Celtic Tiger]], which were used to describe the economic boom periods in [[East Asia]], [[Slovakia]], and [[Republic of Ireland|Ireland]], respectively.

==Overview==
[[File:GDP_per_capita_Baltics.svg|thumb|right|Real GDP per capita development of Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania]]
[[File:Baltic regions by GDP per capita.png|thumb|Baltic regions by GDP per capita]]

Economically, parallel with the political changes, and the democratic transition, – as a rule of law states – the previous command economies were transformed via the legislation into market economies, and set up or renewed the major macroeconomic factors: budgetary rules, national audit, national currency, central bank. Generally, they shortly encountered the following problems: high inflation, high unemployment, low economic growth and high government debt. The inflation rate, in the examined area, relatively quickly dropped to below 5% by 2000. Meanwhile, these economies were stabilized, and [[2004 enlargement of the European Union|in 2004]] all of them joined the [[European Union]]. New macroeconomic requirements have arisen for them; the Maastricht criteria became obligatory. Later the Stability and Growth Pact set stricter rules through national legislation by implementing e g the regulations and directives of the Sixpack, because the [[2008 financial crisis]] was a shocking milestone.<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Vértesy|first=László|date=2018|title=Macroeconomic Legal Trends in the EU11 Countries|url=https://www.dialogcampus.hu/users/default/dialogcampus/uploads/elektronikus_konyvek/pga2018_01_09_vertesy.pdf|journal=Public Governance, Administration and Finances Law Review|volume= 3. No. 1. 2018|access-date=2019-08-12|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190812055105/https://www.dialogcampus.hu/users/default/dialogcampus/uploads/elektronikus_konyvek/pga2018_01_09_vertesy.pdf|archive-date=2019-08-12|url-status=dead}}</ref>

After 2000, the Baltic Tiger economies implemented important economic reforms and liberalisation, which, coupled with their fairly low-wage and skilled labour force, attracted large amounts of foreign investment and economic growth.<ref>{{Cite web |title=WORLD ECONOMIC OUTLOOK DATABASES|url=https://www.imf.org/en/Publications/SPROLLS/world-economic-outlook-databases#sort=%40imfdate%20descending|website=www.imf.org}}</ref> Between 2000 and 2007, the Baltic Tiger states had the highest growth rates in [[Europe]]. In 2006, for example, [[Estonia]] grew by 10.3% in [[gross domestic product]], while Latvia grew by 11.9% and Lithuania by 7.5%. All three countries by February 2006 saw their rates of unemployment falling below average EU values. Additionally, Estonia went from being classified as an upper-middle income economy to a high-income economy by the World Bank in 2006<ref>{{Cite web |title=World Bank Country and Lending Groups – World Bank Data Help Desk |url=https://datahelpdesk.worldbank.org/knowledgebase/articles/906519#High_income |access-date=2024-01-11 |website=datahelpdesk.worldbank.org}}</ref> and is now considered among the ten most liberal economies in the world<ref>{{Cite web |title=Country Rankings: World & Global Economy Rankings on Economic Freedom |url=https://www.heritage.org/index/ranking |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101117114939/http://www.heritage.org/Index/ranking |url-status=unfit |archive-date=17 November 2010 |access-date=2024-01-11 |website=www.heritage.org |language=en}}</ref> according to the ''[[Index of Economic Freedom]]''. 

Due to these developments, all the countries had very high capital inflows, that resulted in high [[current account deficit]]s, circa 10% in 2007.<ref name=":b5" /> The [[2008 financial crisis]] triggered the collapse of the cross-border capital flows, causing some of the most severe recessions in Europe. A collapse of property markets, real wages decline and rise of unemployment followed. In 2008, Latvia's GDP shrank by −4.6% and Estonia's −3.6% while Lithuania's slowed to 3.0%. As the crisis swept across Eastern and Central Europe the economic reversal intensified: [[Estonia]]'s GDP dropped by -16.2% year-on-year, Latvia's by −19.6% and Lithuania's by −16.8%.<ref>{{cite news| url=https://www.ft.com/content/7041a586-8599-11de-98de-00144feabdc0 | work=[[Financial Times]]| title=Latvia's rating cut as GDP falls 19.6% |access-date=2021-01-29 |url-access= subscription}}</ref> By mid-2009, all three countries experienced one of the deepest recessions in the world.

In 2010 the economic situation in the Baltic states stabilized and in 2011 the Baltic states experienced the fastest recoveries in the European Union, after having lost a substantial part of their populations through emigration, particularly Lithuania. Estonia's GDP grew by 8.3% in 2011, Lithuania's GDP grew by 5.9% and Latvia's GDP by 5.5%.<ref>{{cite news| url=http://www.baltic-course.com/eng/analytics/?doc=54355 | work= The Baltic Course | title=GDP of Latvia increased by 5.5% in 2011| date= 2012-03-09 | access-date=2012-03-24}}</ref> Estonia adopted the [[Euro]] in January 2011, Latvia in 2014 and Lithuania entered the [[Eurozone]] in 2015.<ref name=":b5">{{cite journal |title=Convergence and adjustment in the Baltic States |journal=ECB Economic Bulletin |date=2017 |issue=5 |pages=21 |doi=10.2866/010349 |url=https://www.ecb.europa.eu/pub/pdf/ecbu/eb201705.en.pdf |access-date=12 December 2024 |series=2017 |publisher=European Central Bank|doi-broken-date=1 July 2025 }}</ref>

==Statistics==
===Real GDP growth rate===

{| class="wikitable"
|- 
!
! 2011
! 2012
! 2013
! 2014 
! 2015
! 2016
! 2017
! 2018
! 2019
! 2020
! 2021
! 2022
|-
! Estonia 
| {{increase}}7.3% 
| {{increase}}3.2% 
| {{increase}}1.5% 
| {{increase}}3.0% 
| {{increase}}1.9%
| {{increase}}3.2% 
| {{increase}}5.8% 
| {{increase}}3.8% 
| {{increase}}4.0% 
| {{decrease}}-1.0%
| {{increase}}7.2%
| {{decrease}}-0.5%
|-
! Latvia
| {{increase}}2.6% 
| {{increase}}7.0% 
| {{increase}}2.0% 
| {{increase}}1.9% 
| {{increase}}3.9% 
| {{increase}}2.4%
| {{increase}}3.3%
| {{increase}}4.0% 
| {{increase}}0.6%
| {{decrease}}-3.5%
| {{increase}}6.7%
| {{increase}}3.4%
|-
! Lithuania
| {{increase}}6.0%
| {{increase}}3.8% 
| {{increase}}3.6% 
| {{increase}}3.5% 
| {{increase}}2.0%
| {{increase}}2.5% 
| {{increase}}4.3%
| {{increase}}4.0%
| {{increase}}4.7%
| {{increase}}0.0%
| {{increase}}6.3%
| {{increase}}2.4%
|-
| colspan="13" style="text-align:center;"| Data from [https://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/databrowser/view/tec00115/default/table?lang=en Eurostat]
|}

===GDP and GDP per capita===
{| class="wikitable sortable" style="text-align: right"
|+ Baltic states by GDP (nominal) in billions of €<ref name="europa1">{{cite web|url=https://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/databrowser/view/tec00001/default/table?lang=en |title=Gross domestic product at market prices (Current prices and per capita) |publisher=Eurostat}}</ref>
|-
! Country
! data-sort-type="number" | <small>2013</small>
! data-sort-type="number" | <small>2014</small>
! data-sort-type="number" | <small>2015</small>
! data-sort-type="number" | <small>2016</small>
! data-sort-type="number" | <small>2017</small>
! data-sort-type="number" | <small>2018</small>
! data-sort-type="number" | <small>2019</small>
! data-sort-type="number" | <small>2020</small>
! data-sort-type="number" | <small>2021</small>
! data-sort-type="number" | <small>2022</small>
! data-sort-type="number" | <small>2023</small>
! data-sort-type="number" | <small>2024</small>
|-
! style="text-align:left;"|{{flag|Estonia}}
|19.163
|20.366
|21.011
|22.189
|24.316
|26.439
|28.472
|27.859
|31.456
|36.443
|38.188
|39.510
|-
! style="text-align:left;"|{{flag|Latvia}}
|21.997
|22.791
|23.744
|24.498
|26.017
|28.153
|29.567
|29.224
|32.284
|36.100
|39.372
|40.208
|-
! style="text-align:left;"|{{flag|Lithuania}}
|34.874
|36.410
|37.441
|38.821
|42.275
|45.947
|49.239
|50.265
|56.680
|67.456
|73.793
|78.410
|}

{| class="wikitable sortable" style="text-align: right;"
|+ {{nowrap|Baltic states by GDP (nominal) per capita in €<ref name="europa1"/>}}
|-
! Country
! data-sort-type="number" | <small>2013</small>
! data-sort-type="number" | <small>2014</small>
! data-sort-type="number" | <small>2015</small>
! data-sort-type="number" | <small>2016</small>
! data-sort-type="number" | <small>2017</small>
! data-sort-type="number" | <small>2018</small>
! data-sort-type="number" | <small>2019</small>
! data-sort-type="number" | <small>2020</small>
! data-sort-type="number" | <small>2021</small>
! data-sort-type="number" | <small>2022</small>
! data-sort-type="number" | <small>2023</small>
! data-sort-type="number" | <small>2024</small>
|-
! style="text-align:left;"|{{flag|Estonia}}
|14,520
|15,480
|16,000
|16,860
|18,480
|20,040
|21,490
|20,960
|23,650
|27,360
|27,960
|28,740
|-
! style="text-align:left;"|{{flag|Latvia}}
|10,930
|11,430
|12,010 
|12,500
|13,400
|14,620
|15,450
|15,370
|17,130
|19,140
|20,930
|21,610
|-
! style="text-align:left;"|{{flag|Lithuania}}
|11,780
|12,400
|12,860
|13,490
|14,870
|16,300
|17,520
|17,890
|20,180
|23,820
|25,700
|27,150
|-
|}

==See also==
{{Portal|Estonia|Latvia|Lithuania|Economics
}}
*[[Economy of Estonia]]
*[[Economy of Latvia]]
*[[Economy of Lithuania]]

*[[Four Asian Tigers]]
*[[Tiger Cub Economies]]
*[[Celtic Tiger]]
*[[Tatra Tiger]]
*[[Gulf Tiger]]

==References==
{{Reflist}}

{{Baltic states}}
{{Economic miracle and tiger economy}}

[[Category:Tiger economies]]
[[Category:Economic booms]]
[[Category:Economic history of Europe]]
[[Category:Baltic states]]
[[Category:Economic history of Estonia]]
[[Category:Economic history of Latvia]]
[[Category:Economic history of Lithuania]]