International Trade
International trade for such a small country as Lithuania is crucial. The ratio of foreign trade to GDP has always been at least 100%, and exceeded it for the last several years.
The EU is the biggest trade partner of Lithuania with a 58% of total imports and 64% of total exports during the first ten months of the year 2009. The Commonwealth of Independent States is the second economic union that Lithuania trades the most with, with a share of imports of 34% and a share of exports of 23% during the same period. The vast majority of commodities, including oil, gas and metals have to be imported, mainly from Russia. For this reason, Russia is the biggest import partner of Lithuania.
Some sectors are directed mainly at export markets. Transport and logistics export 2/3 of their products and/or services; the biotechnology industry exports 80%; plastics export 52%; laser technologies export 86%; metal processing, machinery and electric equipment export 64%; furniture and wood processing export 55%; textile and clothing export 76%; and the food industry exports 36%.
