Last December the surplus on the current account balance (CAB) contracted (37.2 %) as in November, and amounted to €66.5 million. This was due to a significant widening of the foreign trade deficit and the secondary income balance which turned into a deficit. The increase in the foreign trade deficit of €345.1 million formed due to the decrease in exports of goods (3.1 %) and a slight increase in imports (0.2 %). With the rise in exports and imports of services (by 7.7 % and 9.3% respectively), the surplus balance of services increased by 4.9% and amounted to €397.3 million. Despite the good performance, the pandemic has demonstrated that a resilient location strategy is a key to business continuity in uncertain times, and multiple companies have recognized Lithuania as a reliable, flexible, and high-performing partner.

2021 brought seven new investors into Lithuania’s GBS community, with more than 1,300 new jobs to be added over the next few years. Another 1,500 are in the plans as six companies already established in Lithuania expand their high value-added functions, such as Embedded Engineering, Cyber Security, and Robotic Process Automation, among others. Highly educated, diverse, multilingual talent continues to be Lithuania’s main attraction point for new investors.

The surplus in primary income (€70.0 million) still formed due to subsidies for agriculture received from the EU.

The secondary income balance turned into a deficit and amounted to €55.6 million. Transfers from EU support funds (€53.0 million) went up by 13.2 %, whereas Lithuania’s contributions to the EU budget (€63.3 million) rose by 58.0% compared to November. Personal transfers from abroad amounted to €58.6 million, with an increase of 6.2% compared to November. Personal transfers from Lithuania totaled EUR 19.8 million, rising 0.7% month on month.

The negative net flow of financial account investment (€110.6 million) resulted from a fall in official reserve assets.