Non-cash payments accounted for 74% of consumer payments in Latvia in August 2025, which was down from record 78% in February 2025, according to the Bank of Latvia’s latest payment radar survey conducted by Latvijas Fakti, The Baltic Times reports. Meanwhile, cash payments accounted for 26% (22%) of all payments. In recent years, the share…
Housing prices in Latvia increased by 6.7% in the second quarter of 2025, compared to the same period of 2024, according to Eurostat data, LSM reports. Compared to the first quarter of 2025, housing prices rose by 3.2%. The increase in housing prices in Latvia was higher than the EU average, according to Eurostat’s House…
Employee optimism about wage growth is waning in the Baltic States, according to Citadele Bank’s Purchasing Barometer survey in August 2025, BNS reports. The survey showed that 15% of Lithuanian workers expect a pay rise in the next three months, compared to 12% in Latvia and just 6% in Estonia. Meanwhile, 10% of workers in…
Lithuanians are the most active savers in the Baltic States, according to a September 2025 poll for Luminor Bank, The Baltic Times reports. In the survey, 23% of Lithuanians, 17% of Estonians, and 14% of Latvians said that they were able to save more than 10% of their income regularly. As many as 43% of…
The Foreign Investors Council in Latvia (FICIL) has called for reforming the country’s labour laws, LSM reports. FICIL said that Latvia’s labour market faced “growing structural challenges”, which it said were “driven by demographic decline, a mismatch between labour skills and market needs, and outdated regulations.” The business lobby group called for reforms to “enhance…
Economic confidence and sense of security among Estonian residents increased in September 2025, according to a new Turu-Uuringute survey for the government, ERR reports. The survey showed that 67% of Estonian residents were satisfied with life, which was up from 64% in June 2025. Meanwhile, 48% (58%) felt economic uncertainty and 29% (34%) felt the…
The Latvian government will need to borrow EUR 3.8bn on international financial markets in 2026 and EUR 4.3bn in 2027, according to Janis Rozenbergs, deputy manager of the State Treasury, LETA reports. He told the budget and finance committee of the Latvian parliament, the Saeima, that the government needed around EUR 2bn per year to…
The taxable value of real estate property in Lithuania has increased by 90% since the beginning of 2021, according to an assessment by the Centre of Registers, BNS reports. The tax value of residential property has roughly doubled, while the value of other real estate has increased by 60-100% over five years. Property values have…
Estonia’s harmonised index of consumer prices (HICP) rose by 5.2% on year in September 2025, according to Statistics Estonia’s flash estimate, ERR reports. Compared to August 2025, prices fell by 1.2%. The monthly fall was mainly due to a drop in prices for food, non-alcoholic beverages, and fuel. The HICP takes into account spending by…