The Baltic States have been amongst the worst hit by the global financial crisis. In 2007, the Latvian unemployment rate stood at 6% and by the fourth quarter of 2009, the figure had risen to 20%, and the youth unemployment rate to 43% giving Latvia the highest rate of unemployment growth in the EU. In 2010, 38% of the population was at risk of poverty.
The results were compiled into a World Bank report, which is published in 2013.
