B2B buyers in Lithuania, Latvia, Estonia and Finland: who they are and how they buy

How many businesses are there to sell to?

A registered company is not necessarily trading. Some have no employees, some are holding companies or associations, and many are sole traders who buy little from outside suppliers. Eurostat's structural business statistics give a common framework by industry and size class, while national offices publish their own counts with different coverage [1].

Latvia: Central Statistical Bureau, table UZS031, economically active enterprises of the market sector by number of employees, 2024 (data.stat.gov.lv). Finland: Statistics Finland, table 13w1, enterprises by size class in personnel, 2024 (pxdata.stat.fi). Size classes were added up from the published bands.

Sources: [2], [3], [4], [5]. The Lithuanian figures come from the State Labour Inspectorate's report using State Data Agency data and include institutions and organisations, so they are not a direct equivalent of the other rows. Latvia publishes the breakdown in table UZS031, but national totals by size class could not be extracted for this guide [3].

The number of companies is not the number of realistic buyers. For a maker of production equipment, firms with no staff are irrelevant; for an accounting software provider, they may be the market. Start from economic activity, size, likely purchasing need and evidence that the company is operating.

Which sectors hold the buyers?

Country rankings of sectors by value added are not covered in this guide. Eurostat dataset sbs_sc_ovw is the place to check before claiming that a sector is the largest in any of the four countries [1]. In practice, the useful question is what each sector buys: manufacturers buy machinery, components, automation and technical services; transport and logistics firms buy vehicles, software and maintenance; wholesalers buy goods to distribute; IT and professional services firms buy software and specialist support. Using the NACE classification lets you apply the same definitions in all four markets.

Where are the buyers?

The capitals are sensible starting points but do not hold every buyer. Vilnius, Riga, Tallinn and Helsinki host many head offices, while production, port and engineering activity sits in other cities and regions as well.

Statistics Finland publishes the number of enterprise establishments by region, including Uusimaa, the Helsinki region [6]. These are establishments, not companies or spending, and the Uusimaa share was not checked for this guide. Comparable shares for the Vilnius, Riga and Tallinn regions are not covered here; Eurostat regional accounts are the source to complete this [7].

For software and advisory services, the head office is often the right first contact. For industrial equipment, the plant or operations manager may identify the need even when the contract is approved in the capital.

Which languages do buyers use?

Sources: [8], [9], [10], [11], [12]. The EF index is based on test results of 2.2 million adults in 123 countries and regions. It is not a survey of business executives, and its scores are not percentages of English speakers [8].

Official documents, tenders and local procedures run in the national language; Finland has two national languages, Finnish and Swedish. English works with many internationally active companies. Some contacts use Russian, but it should be agreed with the person, never assumed from the company. The safest practice is to ask each contact which language they prefer and keep to it.

Who makes the buying decision?

Company size predicts the buying process better than nationality. The table below is a sales observation, not statistical data.

Identify the user, the budget holder, the technical evaluator and the person who signs. In subsidiaries of international groups, the local director may support a purchase while the decision sits at regional or group level, so ask where final approval happens before investing in a deal.

Public procurement is a separate market

Tenders publish specifications, qualification rules, deadlines and evaluation criteria in advance. Before bidding, check required documents, tender language and submission method; a suitable product can still be excluded if the evidence cannot be supplied in time. The European Commission keeps a directory of national procurement systems [16].

Payment behaviour

Intrum's European Payment Report 2025 surveyed 9,150 executives in 25 European countries and calculated that 11 per cent of business revenues are paid late every year [17]. That is a European figure. No comparable figures are published for the four countries, so it would be misleading to say any one of them pays faster. Before giving credit, check the legal entity, recent financial statements and payment terms, and consider deposits or milestone invoices for expensive or custom work.

What a foreign seller should do differently

Start from the buying situation, not a national script. In Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia, decide whether your strongest buyers are head offices, distributors, plants or local service firms; the small company populations make careful qualification important. Give Finland its own target list, because its larger company base, two national languages and wider industrial geography make it more than an extension of a Baltic campaign.

In all four, identify companies from official data, check they are operating, find the department that owns the need and confirm who approves the purchase. Use English where the contact is comfortable with it and prepare local language material where the process needs it. Keep private sales and tenders apart. Measure meetings, qualified opportunities, proposals, contracts and paid invoices by country rather than assuming which market will be easiest.