Baltic States: Best Countries to Live, Work and Invest (Residence Permits, Cost of Living)
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- Опубликовано: 31 май 2024
- Baltic States: Best Countries to Live, Work and Invest (Residence Permits, Cost of Living)
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00:00 Intro
01:20 Baltic States: Overview
So what are and where are the Baltic States? The Baltic States or simply the Baltics are three countries in Northeastern Europe, some may call it Northern Europe, some may call it Eastern Europe, but Northeast is probably the option with less controversy.
And these countries are Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania.
02:25 Cost of Living
We are going to start with the cost of living. Since the three countries use the same currency, it is actually pretty easy to identify differences in their cost of living, even though they are not extremely high.
If we take the cost of living data of all three Baltic States, we can clearly see that Estonia is the most expensive of them all.
Estonia made efficient government reforms before Latvia and Lithuania did them, and also managed to attract a huge number of foreign investors and companies.
Currently, Tallinn, the capital of Estonia, is the most expensive city in the Baltic States.
Vilnius, the capital of Lithuania has consumer prices slightly lower than Riga, the capital of Latvia.
03:27 Salaries
When talking about cost of living, we must talk about salaries, because they determine the purchasing power for residents to have access to local products and services.
And here once again we have Estonia at the top, for similar reasons that also push the cost of living up, these very same reasons also push salaries up high in the most Northern of the Baltic States.
Tallinn is the city with the highest salaries in the Baltic region. Average net salaries as of today hover around 1250 EUR per month. In Vilnius, average net salaries are around 1000 to 1100 euros per month. Riga comes last in terms of salaries, with an average of 900 euros per month.
Cities in the Baltic States which are not capitals tend to have salaries significantly lower than in the capitals.
04:17 Real Estate
The next topic is pretty tied to salaries and cost of living: we’re going to talk about Real Estate.
Real estate in the Baltics has a similar trend in all of the 3 countries. The capital cities have quite high prices, some medium cities like Kaunas and Tartu have moderate prices, and everywhere else prices are extremely low.
Tallinn and Vilnius come at the top here, with prices per square meter at around 3k euro in the center of these cities. Riga is definitely cheaper, and you can find a lot of central area properties with prices at 2000 euros per square and even below that.
This causes a lot of real estate in these areas to have virtually no value. It is quite common to find apartments or houses in the countryside of Latvia or Lithuania selling for 10000 euros or less.
05:18 Transportation
Now we come to the next part of our video which is transportation. The transportation infrastructure in the Baltics is quite unique. Since these countries are some of the most sparsely populated in Europe, do not expect to find metro stations in any of the Baltic countries.
If you are flying into the Baltic States, the city with the best connections is Riga, since is the main hub for airBaltic, Latvia’s flag carrier.
06:22 Visa and Residence Permits
Now we are going to talk about visa and residence permits. In terms of visas, these countries are very similar, since they are all in the Schengen area. But in terms of residence permits, this is one of the aspects in which the three countries have the sharpest differences.
Latvia is the best country in the Baltic region to get a residence permit if you are a non-EU citizen. There are residence permits for freelancers, residence permits for company owners, residence permits if you buy real estate, and even a residence permit if you just park some money in a Latvian bank interest free.
In Estonia, there are already significantly less options. It is possible to get a residence permit in Estonia as a self-employed person or by opening a company, so there are still good options. Estonia also has a visa for digital nomads, but since it is not renewable I wouldn’t call it an excellent deal.
Lithuania is the country with the least options in terms of residence permits for non-EU citizens. To open a company and get a residence permit, you need to hire at least one Lithuanian or EU national.
Safety
Now we are going to briefly talk about safety. The three Baltic states are quite safe and also quite comparable.
Climate
COLD
Language
Now let’s talk about the languages of the Baltic region. Each country has its own national and official language. In Estonia, Estonian, in Latvia, Latvian, and in Lithuania, Lithuanian.
Verdict
Visited this region in the summer of 2019. Really hard to decide which is my favourite. All 3 countries are beautiful. Tallinn is my favourite city because of the old town which is amazing. Lithuania is my favourite country (just) as the people are the friendliest and the food is a little better. Plus the weather is the warmest of the 3. Riga is most fun city there as it's the biggest and has really good night-life. Also a their beach at Jurmala, about half an hour train ride from Riga is fantastic. Regret not seeing Estonia's islands. Next time... All countries I highly recommend.
The Statistical Office of Latvia reported that Vilnius has overtaken Riga in terms of population and is now AGAIN the largest city in the Baltic States (after a gap of almost 200 years); Vilnius - 615,000, Riga - 605,000.
nice info!
Thats not even true tho :D Maybe in the future, but right now Vilnius still has 15000-30000 less people then Riga.
Lithuania is my best in the region. The country is very ambitious and is opening up to foreigners. Recently the immigration department announced 36,000 job openings, that's a very huge opportunity. Low cost of living and tuition. Lithuania is highly underrated.
GDP per capita in PPP (Eurostat, 2022):
Slovenia - 92% from the EU average;
Czechia - 91%
Lithuania - 90%
Estonia - 87%
Japan - 86%
Spain - 85%
Poland - 79%
Hungary - 77%
Portugal - 77%
Romania - 77%
Latvia - 74%
Croatia - 73%
Greece - 68%
Slovakia - 67%
Bulgaria - 59%
As an Estonian i do not agree with your point about the climate. While yes, occasionally it might get pretty cold in the winter (like -20 celsius or something), this period usually lasts for only a couple of weeks. For most of the year we have moderate temperatures and in the summer it can get very hot (this year we're having 30+ celsius days). We do get a lot of rain, but it really isn't that bad. In the winter you just need to layer on some more clothes and you'll be fine. The thing about short days in the winter is true, sometimes it is already dark at 16:00, but in the summer we get very long days (right now sunrise is about 4:30 and sunset is somewhere around 22:30).
Thank you for the input. I have also lived for some years in the Baltics (in LV). Weather is something rather personal, some people like it cold, some people like it hot. However, most people like milder temperatures. The ideal temperature for the human body is 22 C. Estonia is one of the coldest countries in the world, so while for most locals it is fine (as you are used to it), people who come from milder climate zones have a hard time to cope with Estonian weather, unless they have a preference or a high tolerance for coldness and darkness.
most people consider mediterranean weather the best (dont know why, its too way hot in the summers) and the contrast is pretty big between that and baltics.
@@traveleconomics I live in northern Sweden and can tell you Baltic winters is nothing. Here it's dark and cold for at least 8 months. I don't mind cold winters as long as they are short.
Those countries are really beautiful
As an ex-pat currently living in Lithuania, I must agree that Lithuania is AMAZING. The climate is indeed harsh, however, it does compensate in the summer. The job market is great and full of opportunities, the cost of living is considerably low, and it is safe.
Thanks Lithuania is best one
Thanks, Lithuania is my best
No Finland is best
@@romankutsar9066 Now we are going to start a fight witch is better. Everyone has DIFFRENT opinions
@@romankutsar9066 ur so wrong
@@romankutsar9066 You know nothing, Lithuania is the oldest country in Europe. It has R1A Genes, it is a Vedic country
I am a retired government worker from the USA. I have always loved the Baltic area, having visited Norway, Sweden and Denmark on vacation in past years. I have seriously considered moving to one of the three Baltic states. Any opinions on which country would be more welcoming for a retired American with a comfortable pension?
Latvia is currently the only country with a visa category for retirees in the Baltics.
I would suggest Estonia, buy a house in the country side, healtcare is good and there is lot of fun do to. But most of the old people here just enjoy the peace, quite and nature. Very safe, and because of the e-govermence, you don't have to ever go to an public office or something, and can do everthing over online.
@@tankart3645 Thank you for offering your input! A house in the countryside sounds like just the ticket! I have been living in a rural area for the past 3 years and the only negative issue is the nearby neighbors use of fireworks and/or firearms to celebrate every single holiday! The loud “booms” scare the pets! But that’s what you have to deal with here in the United States.
@@briangarrow448 I don't think that you will hear a lot of fire arms in Estonia, and also the fireworks are only allowed in the new years evening. Also the concept of rual in Estonia and the Us is quite diffrent in my opinion. In Estonian villages people often life further away from each other, and have a lot of personal space, like an big garden or something and trees surrounding all of the near house property. Estonians love privacy as a lot of them are introverts. If you have a lot of money to spare, or put down on your old life, then Estonia is a good place and when you become citizen then you will have access to basically free healtcare, and medicin.
@@tankart3645 Just the healthcare and medicine would convince thousands of retired Americans my age to seriously consider moving to Estonia. Although I am very happy with the expertise and professional skills of my healthcare providers, the sad fact is that in the United States, the healthcare system is very expensive. I should probably stop with this line of discussion, as I could spend hours berating the system which my country has in place for healthcare! Unlike many of my fellow citizens, I have managed to travel outside of North America and have a passing amount of knowledge about the differences between the U.S. and other industrialized nations.
Again, thank you so much for sharing your knowledge- and I hope that the present situation between my government and the Russian government can be solved by diplomacy. Let us hope that cool heads can work out a solution that can satisfy everyone! Be safe!
thank you for giving valuable info
love this channel man!
thank you, i am glad you are enjoying it!
Estonia ❤️ Latvia ❤️ Lithuania...nice countries love from Pakistan
@@robvogs6735 replace hearts with the word "love" and read again ;)
You should do next a video about Armenia, since you already did one about the neigbouring Georgia. Keep it up
Thank you. I will probably not cover Armenia for the time being due to the volatile situation there now. Hopefully it will improve in the future.
December - March is not enough, as the weather gets pretty awful before December and can last until May, at least in Latvia. Great place during the summer months though.
Official Wikipedia information. According to the standard of living, GDP PPP per capita Slovenia is 35th in the world, the Czech Republic is 37th, Lithuania is 39th, Estonia is 40th. For example, Finland is 23rd in the world
I liked the "mild summers" part!
nao sao nada mal realmente os veroes por la.
Yes especially considering that we had 33-35 degrees of celcius this summer in Lithuania.
@@kodilodinoza - yikes. Sorry to hear that
Was it for long, though?
@@gdf_6c Don't worry to much it was just for around 2 months with some breakes.
@@kodilodinoza this is the hottest summer in the history of Europe. When it was 33-35 in LT it was 38-42 in many other countries of Europe.
latvia def my fav, becus I live there, but I trully love all other baltic countries
Lithuanian
As a Latvian i can say Lithuania is about to overtake Estonia in development. Latvia is last.
As a Lithuanian, I'd say we are not quite there yet. Estonian mindset is simply more Scandinavian if you will - I mean that they have less corruption, more transparency and better system in general. If judging by the GDP numbers for example, then yes - Lithuania overtook Estonia in GDP (PPP), but just by a little margin. Also, it is very important to mention the population - Estonian government, with its policies, has stopped emigration (also geographical position near Finland helps) - and Lithuania (and Latvia) has not stopped the emigration yet.
Talking about Latvia, I believe it has potential to catch up to Lithuania in the coming 5 years - at least I hope that it happens, but it's only my speculation.
@@pickymoose8238 By nominal GDP Estonia is still ahead 26.4k, Lithuania 22.8k, Latvia 19,9k.
@@pickymoose8238 Hello KarlErick Lindberg! Still continue your clownadic "nordic" and "scandinavian" tales? How does your Pärnu Estonian village, from where you write these delusions? :)))
@@kriskt4754 Nominal GDP per capita means nothing. The real situation shows only GDP per capita in PPP.
@@arturasandriusaitis8832 An average Estonian is still richer than an average Lithuanian. Deal with it.
Make 1 video for PR in Estonia
All of these languages are hard to learn for all other Europeans, that's why almost no one is learning them. I visited Tallinn once for work, and it's old town is cool, and especially popular among Finnish tourists.
But Estonian is much harder than Latvian and Lithuanian. Yeah Tallinn's old town is the best part of it.
@@traveleconomics how we can trust you ? Estonian also belongs to IndoEuropean language group
@Vytautas Šulcas it does not. Estonian belongs to the Finno Ugric language group. You don't need to trust me just check Wikipedia.
@@vytautassulcas6494 no bro... Estonian is just built different
@@Iamalemonwhy ok, bro
Which country would be best choice for international students for studying in Baltic region? Among these three
dont know about how its for internationals (should be totally fine, lots of them there) but university of tartu is considered the best in the region. for more technical degrees tallinn university of technology (TalTech) or vilnius gediminas technical university would be would be more optimal choices, they are pretty much on the same level with each other.
@@hullmees666 thanks for the help..
nothing for poor porkis
Please make a video on small buisness in Baltic nation to setup small buisness in order to get residency permit.
I have been to Tallinn and Riga, and I will tell you, most people there don't speak Russian, and for those that do, not everybody seemed to want to speak it. This was 20 years ago, so maybe it has changed.
Riga and Tallinn always have been different in that sense, even if both were part of the Soviet Union. There always was much more Russian speakers in Riga than in Tallinn.
1. Latvia for its variety of Residence Permits.
2. Estonia for its charming Old Town especially during Christmas.
3. Lithuania.
I better like Old Town in Riga Latvia.
Startup investors say that Estonia got same amount companys to invest like in Lithuania and Latvia together.
interesting.
It is because of tax evasion. Estonia is one of those tax haven countries like Ireland, Luxembourg or Panama.
@@konfunable Estonia isnt tax haven. :D Estonia has made IT country image. Even our president travel around the world and talks about Estonian IT solutions. It is called trust,
@@rapator9270 Nope. Estonia is a tax haven. Read about it. This IT thing is just a PR stunt.
@@konfunable it isn't an tax haven, the taxes are low yes 20%, but what makes companies interested in it, is that when you reincest your earnings into the company, you don't get taxed on those expenses. What makes it a much better option to develop a company than in many other countries.
I am Estonian and well i have lived my whole life here and well i dont think the winter is cold and dark i think its just normal for me.
that's called adaptation of species.
Average wages (Gross) (March 2023):
Lithuania - 1960 EUR
Estonia - 1741 EUR
Latvia - 1560 EUR
Czech Rep. - 1736 EUR
Poland - 1607 EUR
Russia - 780 EUR
Source: t r a d i n g e c o n o m i c s
Can Non-EU citizens ( like 🇮🇳 ) find IT Jobs in Latvia 🇱🇻 or Estonia 🇪🇪?
yes
There are a lot of Indians currently working in Estonia in programming.
I might be late but in Latvia getting IT job is relatively easy. You only need English language and skills in IT.
Minimal wages (Gross) (March 2023):
Lithuania - 840 EUR (924 EUR from the January 1st, 2024)
Estonia - 725 EUR
Latvia - 620 EUR
Czech Rep. - 717 EUR
Poland - 746 EUR
Russia - 178 EUR
Source: t r a d i n g e c o n o m i c s
Lithuania is the best. Estonia was a tiger, but slowed a lot during recent year. Probably because of conservative center government. Riga in Latvia was also mismanaged by city council for a few years. So people are leaving Riga.
Not just a few years. Yes, for a few decades now people have been moving to suburbs near Riga, where they live in private houses, but a lot of them travel to Riga for work.
The Estonian economy is on rise again and will probably in the soon future take a leade again hopefully. I'm expecting it to catch up to Finland and Sweden in the next 10-15 years.
@@tankart3645 you are too optimistic, especially with the tendency to spend money the country just doesnt have recently. populism has become a real problem. debt is skyrocketing. i personally am really concerned. politicians have gotten too comfy with negative budgets due to recent crises.
@@hullmees666 Dept is still very low and rare in Estonia. The state has, and is trying to keep the agenda of low dept, and budgets not going over. In the recent past 2 years yes, this agenda has been broken because of EU funding and loans, but these are temporary, and its unlikely that it will stay. And the thing with populism, it will fall when the hate takes an end, and when they try to push it further, they will just digg themselves an bigger hole.
@@tankart3645 debt level is thrice it was 2 years ago. While overall its not a problem yet (due to previous low levels) the increase has been massive. Budget is still in the red and all politicians can talk about is on what to spend next, where to take the money nobody cares about.
GDP per capita in PPP (2020):
Czechia - 93% from the EU average
Slovenia - 89%
Lithuania - 87%
Estonia - 84%
Japan - 91%
Source: E U R O S T A T
Estonia is on the top!
Lithuania***
@@danieliuslt6799 Lithuania is also very good now
Which is the Best Baltic Country for Indian Citizens?
Depends on your skills and capital.
None!
none!!
if you speak sanskrit - Lithuania is the best ;)
Lithuania because Language is very similar and Lithuania is originally a Vedic country. Their Romuva religion is very similar with Hindu religion
What about comparing Covid restrictions? Lots of people looking to move for more freedom right now
It is very hard to assess this because they change on a week to week basis.
As a Latvian, I'm telling ya. You won't have huge income.
True
Average wages before the taxes (2021 July):
Lithuania - 1566.4 EUR
Estonia - 1538 EUR
Latvia - 1300 EUR
Czech Rep. - 1512.31 EUR
Poland - 1201.18 EUR
Russia - 651.21 EUR
Source: t r a d i n g e c o n o m i c s
source?
@@traveleconomics t r a d i n g e c o n o m i c s
In Estonia when they talk about wages they always talk Netto, or after taxes and I think that something has gone lost in the translation as the average wage in Estonia is 1570€ after taxes. It's higer in cities tho, like in Tallinn and Tartu were the avrage netto wage is 2870€.
600 in Russia is actualy after taxes. At leadt after insuarance and other payments. And that's in small towns I guess because I used to get abit more than 2000 in Moscow
taxes matter, at 1566 a lithuanian gets 995 while an estonian gets 1267
Baltic because the ancient history started with Balt tribes ;) --> en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Balts
Average wages (Gross) (September 2021):
Lithuania - 1598.10 EUR
Estonia - 1553.00 EUR
Latvia - 1280.00 EUR
Czech Rep. - 1508.53 EUR
Poland - 1230.68 EUR
Russia - 640.67 EUR
Source: t r a d i n g e c o n o m i c s
GDP per capita in PPP (Eurostat December, 2021):
Czechia - 91% from the EU average;
Slovenia - 90%
Lithuania - 88%
Cyprus - 88%
Estonia - 87%
Spain - 84%
Poland - 77%
Hungary - 76%
Portugal - 74%
Romania - 73%
Latvia - 71%
Croatia - 70%
Slovakia - 68%
Greece - 65%
Bulgaria - 55%