Lithuania

Lithuania

Lithuania / is a country in the Baltic region of northern Europe. Member of the European Union, Council of Europe, the Eurozone, the Shenzhen region, the North Atlantic Treaty Organization, and the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development

The most important river of the country is Nimunas, some parts of which are used for river navigation. The country's topography is generally flat, with the exception of some plateaux in the west and east, the height does not exceed 300 meters, with Josapins being 292 meters the highest point in Lithuania. The land is covered with many lakes and forests (which make up 30% of the area)

The climate of Lithuania ranges between marine and continental, and is relatively mild. The average temperatures on the coast are -2.5 ° C (27.5 ° F) in January and 16 ° C (61 ° F) in July

Lithuania has an open and mixed economy that the World Bank classifies as a high-income economy. According to 2016 data, the three largest sectors of the Lithuanian economy are - services (68.3% of GDP), industry (28.5%) and agriculture (3.3%). The World Economic Forum's Global Competitiveness Report ranks 41th (out of 137 countries ranked)

Lithuania joined NATO in 2004, the European Union in 2004, Schengen in 2007 and the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development in 2018

On January 1, 2015, the euro became the national currency to replace the litas with a price of 1.00 € = LTL 3.45280

Agricultural products and foodstuffs 18.3%, chemical and plastic products - 17.8%, machinery and equipment - 15.8%, metal products - 14.7%, wood and furniture - 12.5% ​​of exports. According to 2016 data, more than half of all Lithuanian exports go to 7 countries including Russia (14%), Latvia (9,9%), Poland (9,1%), Germany (7,7%) and Estonia (5,3%) Sweden (4,8%) and the United Kingdom (4,3%). [208] Exports reached 81.31 percent of Lithuania's GDP in 2017

Lithuanian GDP experienced very high real growth rates for a decade until 2009, peaking at 11.1% in 2007. As a result, the country was often called the Baltic Tiger. On average, over 95% of all foreign direct investment in Lithuania comes from European Union countries. Sweden is historically the largest investor with 20% - 30% of the total FDI in Lithuania. Foreign direct investment to Lithuania increased in 2017, reaching the highest number of registered investment projects in green fields

In 2017, Lithuania was the third country, after Ireland and Singapore, with an average job value of investment projects. The U.S. was the main source country in 2017, 24.59% of total FDI. Germany and the United Kingdom rank next, each accounting for 11.48% of the total number of projects

Based on Eurostat data, in 2017, the value of Lithuanian exports recorded the fastest growth not only in the Baltic countries, but also across Europe, which was 16.9 percent. Lithuania has a flat tax rate instead of a progressive scheme. According to Eurostat, personal income tax (15%) and corporate tax (15%) in Lithuania are among the lowest in the European Union. The country has the lowest capital tax rate (9.8%) in the European Union. The corporate tax rate in Lithuania is 15% and 5% for small businesses. There are 7 free economic zones operating in Lithuania

IT production in the country is growing, reaching 1.9 billion euros in 2016. In 2017 alone, 35 FinTech companies came to Lithuania - as a result of simplification of the procedures of the Lithuanian government and the Bank of Lithuania to obtain licenses for electronic money activities and payment institutions. The first blockchain center in Europe was launched in Vilnius in 2018. Lithuania granted a total of 39 e-money licenses, and the second in the European Union only to the United Kingdom with 128 licenses. In 2018, Google set up a payment company in Lithuania