Average consumer prices for transport fuel in Latvia rose by 28.2% on year in May 2026, according to data from the Central Statistical Bureau (CSP), LSM reported. Retail prices for diesel fuel increased by 33.3%, for petrol by 21.5%, and for autogas (LPG) by 14.4% over a year. Compared to April 2026, average fuel prices…
Latvia’s industrial production output increased by 7.0% in April 2026, compared to the same period of 2025, according to the Central Statistical Bureau’s (CSP) calendar-adjusted data at constant prices, LSM reported. Output in manufacturing rose by 6.8% and in electricity and gas supply by 12.1%, while output in mining and quarrying fell by 8.3% over…
Latvia’s State Treasury has raised EUR 1bn with a new bond issue on international financial markets, LSM reports. The government bonds have a maturity of seven years, carry a yield of 3.525%, and have a fixed coupon rate of 3.500%. The bonds were purchased by more than 70 investors, mostly European asset managers. Total investor…
Latvia’s security situation has not improved and has become more complex, President Edgars Rinkevics stated, LETA reports. Speaking in an interview on TV24, Rinkevics warned that Russia was becoming more unpredictable and that Latvia must be prepared to respond to various kinds of Russian provocations. At the same time, he noted that the threat posed…
The number of nights spent in tourist accommodation increased in Estonia but decreased in Latvia and Lithuania in the first quarter of 2026, according to Eurostat data, LSM reports. The number of overnight stays in Lithuania totalled 2.05 million, which was down 12.9% from 1.78 million nights a year earlier. The decline was the biggest…
Business sentiment in Latvia was positive in the retail and services sectors, but negative in manufacturing and construction in May 2026, according to the Central Statistical Bureau (CSP), LSM reports. The retail confidence indicator stood at 3.1%, which was up 1.5 percentage points from April 2026. In services, the seasonally adjusted confidence indicator was 1.6%,…
Estonia ensures much better protection for LGBT rights than Latvia and Lithuania, according to human rights group ILGA-Europe’s Rainbow Map, which ranks countries based on their legal and policy protection for LGBT people, LSM reports. Estonia ranked 21st on the index with a score of 46.37% on a scale of 0-100% in 2026, which was…
Latvia’s population totalled 1.845 million people in the beginning of 2026, which was down 15,500 (0.83%) from a year earlier, according to data from the Central Statistical Bureau (CSP), LSM reported. The population declined in all regions. Altogether 69.8% of people lived in cities and 30.2% in rural areas, with 46.0% living in Riga region….
The Baltic States will procure up to 20 regional trains for the Rail Baltica railway, ERR reports. Estonia will buy 5-7 trains, Latvia up to 5 trains, and Lithuania up to 8 trains, which will operate on domestic routes only, at least initially. The trains will have around 200 seats and will run at maximum…