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RIGA, June 7 (LETA) - The steepest development of the exporting sectors last year were reported in Jelgava, Jekabpils and Aluksne municipalites, Luminor Bank economist Peteris Strautins said in a presentation on regional development.

At the same time, in 2014-2021, the regions with the steepest development were Adazi, Livani and Kekava municipalities.

In percentage, the steepest export rise was reported in Jelgava municipality, largely thanks to recovery of the engineering sector after the pandemic. Jelgava was followed by Jekabpils and Aluksne municipalities with a dominating forestry sector, including new companies Amberwood and CeWood.

Overall, Vidzeme region showed the steepest development in the past years thanks to its specialization in processing of forestry products and creating added value.

The most successful sector was goods sector, while among services, IT companies showed the best results.

Strautins said that the regions that are exporting more also become richer. In this respect, Marupe municipality is economically the strongest one in Latvia, followed by Olaine municipality and Liepaja.

Livani municipality is the economically strongest one among those municipalities which do not have large cities.

Riga and some nearby municipalities ensure about 54 percent of Latvia's export capacity, Kurzeme region accounts for 16 percent, Zemgale - 11 percent, Vidzeme - 10 percent and Latgale - 9 percent.

The main exporting sectors in Kurzeme are forestry and engineering, in Riga - intellectual services, in Vidzeme - forestry, in Zemgale - forestry and agriculture, in Latgale - engineering.

The regional economic development has been analyzed based on wage income created by exporting sectors because wages ensure the largest positive impact on the local economy. The report covered social insurance contributions made by 2,330 companies and indirect assessments on revenue created by agriculture.