Lithuania shipped US$24.9 billion worth of goods around the globe in 2016, up by 51.2% since 2009 when the Great Recession kicked in but down by -1.9% from 2015 to 2016.

Lithuania’s top 10 exports accounted for 59.3% of the overall value of its global shipments.

Based on statistics from the International Monetary Fund’s World Economic Outlook Database, Lithuania’s total Gross Domestic Product amounted to $85.8 billion in 2016. Therefore, exports accounted for about 29.1% of total Lithuanian economic output.

From a continental perspective, 84.6% of Lithuanian exports by value are delivered to European countries while 7.4% are sold to Asian importers. Lithuania ships another 5.6% to North American customers with 1.7% going to Africa.

Given Lithuania’s population of 2.9 million people, its total $24.9 billion in 2016 exports translates to roughly $8,700 for every resident in that country.

Lithuania’s unemployment rate was 8.7% as of January 2017 down from 9.4% one year earlier, according to Trading Economics.

The following export product groups represent the highest dollar value in Lithuanian global shipments during 2016. Also shown is the percentage share each export category represents in terms of overall exports from Lithuania.

1. Mineral fuels including oil: US$3.4 billion (13.8% of total exports)
2. Machinery including computers: $2.1 billion (8.2%)
3. Furniture, bedding, lighting , signs, prefab buildings: $1.9 billion (7.7%)
4. Electrical machinery, equipment: $1.6 billion (6.5%)
5. Plastics, plastic articles: $1.5 billion (6.1%)
6. Vehicles : $1 billion (4.1%)
7. Wood: $994.6 million (4%)
8. Pharmaceuticals: $801.6 million (3.2%)
9. Fertilizers: $761.2 million (3.1%)
10. Cereals: $651 million (2.6%)

Pharmaceuticals were the fastest-growing among the top 10 export categories, up 198.4% in value for the 7-year period starting in 2009.

In second place for improving export sales was machinery including computers which gained 124.3%.

Lithuanian electronics posted the third-fastest gain in value up 119.3%.

Mineral fuels including oil was the only category to decline via its -2.5% drop.

The following types of Lithuanian product shipments represent positive net exports or a trade balance surplus. Investopedia defines net exports as the value of a country’s total exports minus the value of its total imports.

In a nutshell, net exports is the amount by which foreign spending on a home country’s goods or services exceeds or lags the home country’s spending on foreign goods or services.

1. Furniture, bedding, lighting, signs, prefab buildings: US$1.5 billion (Up by 93.5% since 2009)
2. Cereals: $601.4 million (Up by 85.4%)
3. Fertilizers: $503.3 million (Down by -13%)
4. Wood: $397.5 million (Up by 50.1%)
5. Dairy, eggs, honey: $269 million (Down by -26.1%)
6. Tobacco, manufactured substitutes: $255.6 million (Up by 416.4%)
7. Plastics, plastic articles: $240.1 million (Down by -31%)
8. Clothing, accessories (not knit or crochet): $125.5 million (Down by -14.5%)
9. Meat/seafood preparations: $118.2 million (Down by -9.2%)
10. Milling products, malt, starches: $115.1 million (Up by 101.9%)

Lithuania has highly positive net exports in the international trade of furniture, lighting, signs and prefabricated buildings. In turn, these cashflows indicate Lithuania’s strong competitive advantages under this product category.

Below are exports from Lithuania that result in negative net exports or product trade balance deficits. These negative net exports reveal product categories where foreign spending on home country Lithuania’s goods trail Lithuanian importer spending on foreign products.

1. Vehicles : -US$1.3 billion (Up by 1470% since 2009)
2. Mineral fuels including oil: -$1.2 billion (Down by -26%)
3. Machinery including computers: -$787.3 million (Up by 54.9%)
4. Organic chemicals: -$503 million (Down by -7.7%)
5. Electrical machinery, equipment: -$497.2 million (Up by 85.1%)
6. Pharmaceuticals: -$261.6 million (Down by -44.7%)
7. Salt, sulphur, stone, cement: -$238.9 million (Up by 8.4%)
8. Iron, steel: -$199.9 million (Up by 142.2%)
9. Paper, paper items: -$181.9 million (Down by -7.4%)
10. Fruits, nuts: -$169.4 million (Up by 98.4%)

Lithuania has highly negative net exports and therefore deep international trade deficits under the general vehicles category but particularly for cars and tractors.

These cashflow deficiencies clearly indicate Lithuania’s competitive disadvantages in the international fossil fuel market, but also represent key opportunities for Lithuania to improve its position in the global economy through focused innovations in vehicle manufacturing.

Lithuanian Export Companies

Wikipedia lists the following Lithuania-based companies involved in international trade:

• AB Stumbras (alcoholic beverages)
• Achema (fertilizers)
• Alita (alcoholic beverages)
• Dvarčionių keramika (ceramics)
• EKSPLA (photonics, lasers)