Estonia

GDP growth: 2.5%
GDP: $23bn (PPP: $29bn)
Inflation: 3.0%
Population: 1.3m
GDP per head: $17,330 (PPP: $21,960)

It will be a year for consolidation as the country drags itself back from the collapse of 2009. A second-term administration with an increased majority, euro adoption at the start of 2011 and a reasonably broad-based economic expansion all point in the right direction. At this corner of the euro-zone periphery, interest rates are, if anything, too low, and inflation may dampen consumers’ enthusiasm. Even so, the economic rebound will continue, with GDP expanding at a modest pace.

To watch: Bear-faced. Estonia has bet firmly on the West since the collapse of communism, but must resolve tensions with neighbouring Russia, and its own Russian-speaking minority, if it is to prosper.