Latvia’s 2021 Productivity Report Published

Latvian Productivity Board and the Productivity Research Institute of the University of Latvia “UL Think tank LV PEAK” has published “Latvia’s 2021 Productivity Report”.

This report notes that Latvia’s rate of productivity convergence is slowing down and there is an increasing risk of falling into a middle income trap. To counter that, it calls for structural reforms leading to additional innovation in the business sector, the full use of digitisation opportunities, the integration of Latvian companies into global markets, a better access to quality education and further reskilling and upskilling of the labour force. The successful implementation of these reforms would have a significant impact on faster growth in the economy as a whole. The report also discusses the impact of remote working on productivity and shows that the uptake of remote working opportunities in Latvia is nearly three times less compared with the EU average. It identifies the main policies for fostering remote working in Latvia, while noting the need to study further the longer-term effects of remote working on productivity.

“Latvia’s 2021 Productivity Report” is the second report prepared by researchers, the first Latvian productivity report was developed in 2020. The Executive summary of the report is available here