Latvian exports of food, agricultural produce slow 6 pct in 2014

Even as food and agricultural produce dominated Latvian exports for the third consecutive year, their value dropped by 6 percent in 2014, according to a report released on Monday by the Latvian Agriculture Ministry.

In 2014, exports of food and agricultural produce made up 19.8 percent of Latvia's total exports, the ministry said in the report, noting that 2014 was the first year since 2009 that Latvian exports of food and agricultural produce dropped in value.

Latvia exported 2.17 billion euro (2.36 billion U.S. dollars) worth of food and agricultural produce in 2014, down 138 million euros or 6 percent from a year before.

Timber and timber products emerged as the second most important group of export products, making up 18.9 percent of Latvia's total exports in 2014. The value of these exports totaled 2.06 billion euros.

Although both exports and imports of food and agricultural produce declined in 2014, exports of these products fell at a much steeper rate than imports, the Latvian Agriculture Ministry said.

As a result, Latvia's trade deficit in food and agricultural produce reached 4 million euros last year.

Slightly more than half of Latvian exports of food an agricultural produce, or 51 percent, was shipped to other EU member states.

The largest portion of Latvian exports of food an agricultural produce, or 30 percent, was shipped to Russia, traditionally Latvia's main non-EU export partner. In 2014, however, exports to Russia declined by 2 percent. (1 euro = 1.09 U.S. dollars) Enditem