In Latvia, exports are discussed a great deal and with much emotion. Yet behind the stories full of pride, there is no clear national goal or unified action plan – that is the conclusion of a study* carried out by the analytics and management group “PowerHouse Latvia”, which analysed posts in the digital space last year. Exports are one of the most frequently mentioned topics when the economy is discussed, yet the conversation about them in Latvia is fragmented, politicised and often superficial, the researchers point out.
As the results of the study show, exports are not discussed in the digital environment in a coherent way. Several differing perspectives coexist there, forming three dominant export stories, or narratives. Each of them emphasises different aspects – some speak of exports as a matter of national self-confidence, others as an instrument for an economic breakthrough, and still others as a dry statistical indicator. These stories do not always complement one another; they often compete with each other and create a fragmented impression of what exports actually mean for Latvia and what their strategic purpose is.
“Such fragmentation is not merely a matter of communication – it is a real problem that affects real decisions. This kind of disagreement shows that the state finds it difficult to define its main priorities. As a result, as long as there is no consistent and unified vision, businesses are forced to adapt to shifting signals and cannot rely on the course the state has taken on exports being stable and long-term,” says Mārtiņš Daugulis, research director at “PowerHouse Latvia”.
According to the data analysed by the “PowerHouse Latvia” group, the most widespread export story in the digital environment is the politically emotional one. In it, exports are extolled as the pillar of a secure national economy, a source of economic pride and even part of the national identity.
The second most significant is the innovation and future story – more structured and more optimistic. In it, exports are positioned as the path to prosperity, with an emphasis on high value-added products and a knowledge-based economy. Alongside the traditional pillars of the economy – forestry and agriculture – the defence industry, renewable energy, digital services and intellectual property are highlighted as strategically promising sectors, from e-government to artificial intelligence solutions and cybersecurity. As the authors of the study note, this story also clearly reveals the unfinished “homework”, particularly the need to improve the investment environment and access to finance.
Finally, exports are often framed in communication within a statistical and economic story that views them through the numbers. Exports and imports serve as a thermometer for the economy, while the dynamics of sectors and product groups make it possible to assess changes in the structure of Latvia's economy. Here, exports are also influenced by external factors – the war, sanctions against Russia, US tariff policy – and Latvia's results are regularly compared with the performance of Lithuania and Estonia.
“At present, exports are a relatively marginal topic in digital communication – they rarely become the focus of broad public debate and largely remain within the professional and institutional sphere. If exports do not have a place on the public information agenda, they will not become a shared ambition either. Without a purposeful and unified story in the public space, it is impossible to establish exports as a clear national development priority, and this also limits the political will to act,” says Mārtiņš Daugulis, research director at “PowerHouse Latvia”.
Businesses themselves also point to a number of obstacles and challenges that hinder the growth of export capacity – especially for state-owned enterprises. Members of the State Innovative Capital Companies initiative (VIKI) who were surveyed name as the biggest challenges not only the regulatory framework, but also the vagueness of the owner's (the state's) expectations, overly strict supervision by controlling institutions, the differing positions of shareholders and the state's overall stance on this matter. VIKI members believe that strengthening export capacity would require fostering a shared understanding of exports as a self-evident part of doing business.
It has already been reported that VIKI, which currently brings together more than 30 state and municipal capital companies, will focus more intensively on promoting export capacity and growth in 2026. VIKI stresses that the export turnover of the country's largest enterprises is disproportionately small, exceeding 1% of the sector's total export turnover in only a few fields (energy, transport, agriculture and forestry, communications, real estate), and that because of this untapped potential Latvia's economy misses out on tens of millions of euros every year.
* The study compiled 15,366 posts on websites, on the social media platforms X, Facebook and YouTube and in other digital channels that mentioned the keyword “exports” and were published between 10 March 2025 and 15 February 2026.