Latvian–Norwegian Economic Relations 1918–1940

Abstract

This article provides an overview of Latvian–Norwegian economic relations in the interwar period. In the interwar period, economic relations between Latvia and Norwegian were mainly confined to foreign trade, although there were some investments in Latvia from Norway as well. Latvia declared its independence in 1918, however normal trade with Norway did not commence until 1920 after the end of the Latvian War of Independence. It ended with the occupation of Norway in 1940. Latvia’s foreign trade in relation to Norway was regulated by the 1924 Commercial and Navigation treaty. Latvia’s main imports from Norway in the interwar period were herrings, cotton cloth, agricultural and industrial machinery, treated hides, various types of metals and metal products, animal fats and fish oils, drive-belts, stones and wire, whilst Latvia’s main exports to Norway were butter, meat, plywood, pit-props and boards, thread, linoleum, pulpwood, gypsum, paints and paint products, as well as radios. In general, trade and thus economic relations were of marginal significance to both countries in the interwar period due mainly to similarities in their economic structures and geographical distance.