Lithuania’s GDP fell by 2.1 per cent compared to the end of 2022. This is the sharpest drop since the beginning of the coronavirus pandemic. This is reported by the Lithuanian Free Market Institute (LLRI).
According to the organisation, in the first quarter of 2023, Lithuania’s position in the International Misery Index has changed: the country has moved from its previous seventh place to third place in the list of EU countries experiencing the greatest economic hardship. The last time Lithuania ranked so high in the Economic Poverty Index was exactly a year ago, when the country’s economy recorded slow growth and high inflation.
“The beginning of 2023 is extremely difficult for the Lithuanian economy. Compared to the EU average, all indicators that make up the International Misery Index – unemployment rate, GDP change and inflation – were worse in Lithuania in the first quarter of 2023,” commented LLRI expert Martynas Gruodisp on the index data.
According to Gruodisp, as a result, the Lithuanian economy was not only among the three countries experiencing the greatest economic difficulties, but also recorded one of the largest changes in this index per quarter. The economic poverty index grew faster only in Greece, Malta and the Czech Republic, the expert emphasised.
Lithuania’s GDP fell by 2.1 per cent in the first quarter of 2023 compared to the last quarter of 2022. This, Grudis noted, is the sharpest quarterly drop in GDP since the start of the coronavirus pandemic.
The LLRI said the unemployment rate, which has risen for the third consecutive quarter, is also a cause for concern. The expert said this is a reflection of business expectations.
“It jumped 1.5 percentage points from the last quarter of last year to 7.7 per cent in the first quarter of 2023. However, job vacancies remain high, so the actual labour market situation could be even more difficult, with some of the working-age population trapped in unemployment,” Gruodis said.
The countries with the lowest economic poverty in the first quarter of 2023 were Poland, the Netherlands and Slovenia. Spain and Greece were in first and second place among the EU countries experiencing the most economic hardship.
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