With 21 percent inflation, Lithuania is the highest of all European countries, closely followed by neighboring Latvia and Estonia.
The Baltic states have been experiencing increasingly high inflation for some time and now the effect is being felt by both consumers and businesses.
- We notice that there are fewer customers.
They choose to buy basic goods instead of good tea or coffee, says Tatjana, who runs a small coffee shop in Vilnius.
Salary increases
According to Aurelijus Dabušinskas, Director of Finance at the Central Bank of Lithuania, the reason why the Baltic states in particular have been hit so hard by the increasing global inflation is due to several factors:
- The population in these countries generally spends more on precisely the goods that have increased in price the most compared to other countries.
It's about food, fuel and electricity, he says.
The high prices are partly balanced by the substantial salary and pension increases in the country, says Aurelijus Dabušinskas, but adds that the price increases are problematic for the population.
Can't afford to buy milk
SVT's dispatcher meets pensioner Anya outside a grocery store.
She says that there are several items she doesn't buy these days, as the prices for these have gone up by over 15 percent.
– Beef, milk, butter.
I can't buy it anymore, she says.