The established Blue Economy sectors in Latvia directly employ nearly 20 thousand people and generate approx. €410 million in GVA (2021). The Latvian Blue Economy sectors represent a moderate share of the national economy, contributing by approx. 1.4% to national GVA and 2.3% to national employment.
The size and share of the Blue Economy in Latvia has been fluctuating since 2009 in terms of employment, reaching its highest level in 2013 (44 thousand employees). The COVID-19 pandemic hit the country’s Blue Economy particularly hard, with a 43% contraction in its workforce between 2019 and 2020. More than one thousand jobs were lost in the following year.
Similarly, Latvia’s Blue Economy GVA fluctuated in nominal terms between €372 million in 2010 and the peak of €659 million registered in 2019. Then, it suffered from a 39% contraction in 2020, prior to a modest 2% recovery in 2021.
The largest Blue Economy sector in Latvia is Port activities, contributing to more than 43% to the country’s Blue Economy GVA and 30% to its workforce. The second largest Blue Economy sector in terms of GVA is Marine living resources, representing 23% of total Blue Economy GVA and 23% of its employment. However, Coastal tourism is the sector that provides the highest contribution to the country’s Blue Economy employment, with a share of 31% of its workforce.
Latvia has 494 km of coastline along the Baltic sea. Latvia has three major seaports and seven smaller ports. Riga is the biggest port in Latvia and second biggest in the Baltic States. It handles a significant amount of containerized cargo, with an annual throughput of over 600,000 TEUs (twenty-foot equivalent units), or approx. 19 million Tonnes/year (2023). The port of Ventspils is one of the leading deep-water ports of the EU on the East coast of the Baltic Sea, servicing the largest vessels entering the Baltic Sea throughout the whole year, handling another 10 million Tonnes/year. Liepaja is the third biggest port (6.5 million Tonnes). Fishing vessels use also small ports like Skulte, Mersrags, Salacgriva, Pavilosta, Roja and Engure.
The largest passenger port in Latvia is the Free Port of Riga, which serves as a major hub for passenger transportation, including cruise ships and ferry services to and from various destinations in the Baltic Sea region. Additionally, the Port of Ventspils also serves as a key passenger port, especially during the summer months when it caters to tourists and travelers visiting the Latvian coast (approx. 200 thousand passengers/year).
The Latvian Institute of Aquatic Ecology is an agency of Daugavpils University and an internationally competitive scientific institute conducting academic and applied research in aquatic ecology. Among other objectives, the Institute aims to develop the knowledge base on ecosystem services and their values and stimulate the integration of this knowledge into planning and decision-making for sustainable ecosystem management in the Baltic Sea.
Other national sources of information on the Latvian Blue Economy are:
- Latvian Ministry of Environmental Protection and Regional Development.
- Latvian Ministry of Agriculture.
- Freeport Authority of Riga.
- Latvian Institute of Food Safety, Animal Health and Environment (BIOR).
For more national level data, please visit the Dashboards section within the EU Blue Economy Observatory, where you can also find information about Educational and Employment opportunities in the Blue Economy sectors.
