RIGA - Latvia continues to bring up the bottom of the 10 countries acceding to the European Union, with Estonia and Lithuania finishing in 8th and 9th place, respectively, the European statistics agency Eurostat reported in its latest study on living standards in the 25-nation zone.
In this study, which analyzed data for 2001 across 213 regions in the existing 15 member states and 41 regions in the acceding 10, Latvian GDP per capita was 33.4 percent of the EU average. (See chart for complete listing.)
In a similar study last year that analyzed 2002 data Latvia's GDP per capita was estimated at 31 percent of the EU average.
The situation is similar in Lithuania and Estonia, where the GDP per capita - the preferred statistic to compare standards of living in EU member states - is 37.2 percent and 38.5 percent, respectively.
Among candidate states the highest GDP per capita is in Cyprus (77.8 percent of the EU's average), Malta (69.7 percent) and Slovenia (67.8 percent).
The most prosperous region in EU candidate states is in the Czech capital Prague, where GDP per capita even exceeds the average indicator for the EU by 35 percent.
For the purposes of the study analyzing data for separate regions, each of the Baltic states was valuated as one region.
Analysts say that the Baltics have a chance to reach the EU average by 2040 provided that the three economies continue to grow by at least 5 percent per year and that average EU growth remains half that.
As far as 2004, the German bank HSH Nordbank predicted last week that the Baltic economies would continue their strong growth due to the upcoming accession and Russia's economic surge.
The German bank forecast this year's fastest growth for Latvia, at 6.3 percent. The Lithuanian economy is expected to expand by 6.2 percent and the Estonian economy by 5.4 percent.
In 2005, however, the bank expects Lithuania to show fastest growth of the Baltic trio, or 6.2 percent. The Estonian economy, according to the forecast, will grow by 5.9 and the Latvian by 5.8 percent.
Last year, Estonia's GDP grew by 4.4 percent, Latvia's by 6.5 percent and Lithuania's by 7.5 percent, Nordbank estimated.
Nordbank wrote that it expected direct investments in the Baltics to grow after the adoption of the framework of EU laws and regulations. What's more, the Baltic states' beneficial tax regimes should also promote investment, said the bank.
Accession to the EU will facilitate exports into Russia, which currently applies double customs duties on Estonian imports. However, once Estonia becomes a member of the EU, Russia will no longer be able to carry out this policy, the bank said.
