Last updated: September 11, 2026
Lithuania’s economic activity has demonstrated notable resilience, with real GDP growth moving between 2.17% in Q3 2025 and 3.97% in Q4 2024, culminating at 3.8% in the latest reading for Q2 2026. Despite this expansion, the economy continues to operate with spare capacity, as reflected by a negative output gap that persisted through the observation window, moving from -1.33% in 2024 to -1.46% in 2025, and registering at -1.32% in 2026 before dipping to -1.78% in 2027. Labor market conditions have fluctuated, with the unemployment rate moving in a range between 6.2% and 7.1% over the past eight quarters, standing at 6.2% in the latest July 2026 reading.
Price pressures remained visible as CPI inflation reached 3.45% in December 2025. In response to broader euro area economic conditions, the European Central Bank policy rate—which sets rates for the whole euro area, not Lithuania alone—held steady at 2.0% from January 2026 through May 2026, before rising to 2.25% in June 2026 and remaining at 2.25% through July 2026.
Public finances show government revenue moving from 6.55 billion of national currency in Q1 2024 to a peak of 9.17 billion in Q4 2025, alongside government expenditure shifting from 6.72 billion in Q1 2024 to 10.4 billion in Q4 2025. The government budget balance, measured as net lending/borrowing % of GDP, remained in deficit, moving between -0.92% in Q2 2024 and -1.82% in Q4 2025, standing at -1.69% in Q1 2026. Official government debt as a percentage of GDP moved between 42.63% and 47.61%, reaching 47.61% in Q1 2026. The broader measure of total financial liabilities of the general government closely tracked these figures, moving from 40.65% in Q2 2024 to 47.04% in Q1 2026, reflecting the different measurement perimeters of the two metrics.
No sector balance data is available for Lithuania.
In foreign trade, goods exports to the world moved from 32,713.43 million of national currency in 2020 to 41,436.92 million in 2025, while goods imports shifted from 33,328.09 million in 2020 to 48,905.42 million in 2025, indicating a consistent trade deficit over the period.
Energy and commodity metrics highlight notable external cost pressures. Net electricity imports declined from a peak of 9.63 billion kWh in 2018 to 5.4 billion kWh in 2024, representing an ongoing reliance on foreign supply. Dry natural gas imports stood at 99.58 billion cubic feet in 2024, following a high of 125.15 billion cubic feet in 2022, underscoring gas import dependence as an energy-security risk alongside the EU gas price, which climbed from $9.46 in December 2025 to $17.93 in July 2026. Meanwhile, the Brent crude oil price—serving as a general input cost relevant to inflation—moved from $61.81 per barrel in December 2025 to a peak of $103.84 in May 2026, before settling at $83.73 in July 2026.
The currency value against the IMF Special Drawing Right basket moved in a tight band, starting at 1.19 units of currency per 1 SDR in August 2025, touching 1.17 in October and December 2025, and registering at 1.18 in September 2026. This slight fluctuation reflects minor shifts in exchange rate dynamics that interact with imported inflation and export competitiveness.
Overall, Lithuania’s economy exhibits solid growth momentum despite operating below its potential output. While public deficits and energy import dependencies persist, moderating unemployment and steady monetary policy provide a stable backdrop.
This bulletin is generated with AI assistance from the structured economic data collected across this site (national accounts, sector accounts, trade, energy and currency data). It is intended as an accessible summary, not investment advice — figures may be revised as underlying data sources are updated. For the detailed underlying series, see the Nation Account Data and Economic Data sections in the menu above.