Latvia

Economy & income

1 USD = 0.88 EUR live rate

Currency: Euro (EUR, €)
~€0.88 per USD ($1.14 per €) (Jul 2026)
adopted euro 1 Jan 2014, replacing the lats (LVL)
GDP per capita: ~$25,000 nominal (2025, IMF/World Bank; IMF ~$26.1K, WB ~$23.7K)
~$41–44K PPP (2025, IMF/World Economics)
Average salary: ~$1,285 net/mo (€1,128, Numbeo, Jul 2026)
official gross ~$2,070 (€1,815) / net ~$1,535 (€1,346) full-year 2025 (CSB)
Q1 2026 gross €1,831
Median salary: ~$1,670 gross (€1,462) / ~$1,275 net (€1,117) per month (CSB, 2025, full-time units)
Minimum wage: Statutory €780/mo gross (~$889) from 1 Jan 2026 (up from €740 in 2025)
net ~€672
Cost of living: Medium (mid-range EU) — single person ~€806/mo excl. rent
~24.5% cheaper than Germany, rent ~51% lower (Numbeo, Jul 2026)

Digital landscape

Population: 1.86 million (Jan 2025)
Internet users: 93.9% (~1.75M users)
Social media users: 75.6% (~1.41M identities; adults 18+ 83.5%)
Mobile connections: 2.72M cellular connections = 146% of pop
Devices: desktop ~67.0% / mobile ~32.4% / tablet ~0.6% (StatCounter, Jun 2026) — unusually desktop-heavy
Ad spend: ~€92.9M measured-media ad market (2024, Latvian Advertising Association, +7.4% YoY; TV #1, internet #2)
Statista puts digital ad spend at ~$155M (2025 est., incl. Google/Meta)
Top social platforms: YouTube ~75.6%, 1.41M

TikTok ~52.1% of adults 18+, 791K

Facebook ~48.1%, 897K

Instagram ~37.5%, 699K

LinkedIn ~32.2%, 600K

Messenger ~29.6%, 552K
Messengers: WhatsApp (widely used)
Facebook Messenger (~552K)
Telegram (popular, esp. Russian-speakers)
Viber (regional, older users)

Ad regulations

Gambling & betting Restricted

RESTRICTED — Legal and licensed by the Lotteries & Gambling Supervisory Inspection (IAUI; merging into the State Revenue Service on 1 Apr 2026). The Baltics' strictest ad regime: heavy advertising limits, no targeting/appeal to minors; online market ~€135.5M (2025). GGR taxes rising 2026–27.

Crypto Legal

LEGAL — EU MiCA fully applies since 30 Dec 2024; Latvijas Banka (Bank of Latvia) is the competent authority licensing CASPs (first authorised: BlockBen, Nexdesk), runs an Innovation Hub; VASP→CASP transition ran to end-2025; ads must meet MiCA/CASP standards.

Adult Restricted

RESTRICTED — Legal for adults but tightly controlled under the Pornography Restriction Law: special permit needed to distribute, no public display, strict protection of minors; broadcast/on-demand limits under NEPLP media rules.

Dating Allowed

ALLOWED — No sector-specific restriction; standard GDPR, consumer-protection and advertising-standards rules apply.

Finance & loans Restricted

RESTRICTED — Consumer credit total cost capped at 0.07%/day; strict advertising restrictions (since 2019, rules updated 2025) enforced by the Consumer Rights Protection Centre (PTAC); Latvijas Banka borrower-based (DSTI) macroprudential limits; APR disclosure mandatory.

Nutra & pharma Restricted

RESTRICTED — Prescription-drug ads to the public banned; OTC regulated (State Agency of Medicines / ZVA); food supplements must be notified to the Food & Veterinary Service (PVD) with no medicinal/disease claims (EU Reg. 1924/2006).

Regulators

PTAC – Consumer Rights Protection Centre (general advertising/consumer)
IAUI→SRS (gambling)
Latvijas Banka (finance & crypto)
ZVA – State Agency of Medicines
PVD – Food & Veterinary Service
NEPLP (broadcast media)

Notes

EU rules apply (UCPD, GDPR, DSA, AVMSD)
State Language Law requires Latvian labelling/claims
Russian-language creatives are common for the ~1/3 Russian-speaking audience but state-language rules still apply.

Payments & behaviour

Payment methods: Debit/credit cards — Visa & Mastercard (~46% of e-commerce, 2025)
SEPA bank transfer / instant payments
E-wallets (Revolut, PayPal)
BNPL / instalments (growing)
Cash on delivery (small, declining)
E-wallets: Revolut (very popular with youth)
PayPal
Apple Pay
Google Pay
Bank apps (Swedbank, SEB, Citadele)
Cash on delivery: Low — Latvia is highly cashless (non-cash vs cash ~77:23, Feb 2024)
COD is a minor share, mostly tied to parcel-locker deliveries.
E-commerce: ~77% of internet users shop online
market ~$789M (2024), mobile commerce ~58% of transaction value
forecast >$1.1B by 2029.
Notes: High card & contactless use (67% of Latvians use contactless daily, Aug 2024)
parcel lockers (Omniva, DPD, Venipak, LP Express) dominate delivery
Revolut heavily used
instant mobile-number payments rising.

Audience & culture

Languages: Latvian (~62% used at home; 64.3% mother tongue)
Russian (~34.6% at home; 37.7% mother tongue)
English (widely known, esp. urban youth & tourism)
Belarusian/Ukrainian/Polish (small minorities)
Religion: Lutheran ~37%, Roman Catholic ~19%, Orthodox (Latvian/Russian) ~13% (adherent estimates — the 2021 census did not collect religion)
large non-religious/unaffiliated share
Median age: 43.6 years (DataReportal, Jan 2025)
Key seasons: Jāņi / Līgo Midsummer (23–24 Jun) — the biggest holiday; country empties to the countryside
Christmas & New Year (24–26 Dec + 31 Dec)
Easter (spring)
Black Friday / Cyber Monday (late Nov, growing)
Back-to-school (Sep)
Independence Proclamation Day (18 Nov)
Cultural notes: Bilingual market (Latvian + Russian) — creatives often run dual-language
digitally advanced, cashless and card/parcel-locker driven
value-conscious
strong national identity
notably more desktop-oriented than regional mobile-first peers.
Where to find creators: Instagram
TikTok
YouTube
Facebook

Media landscape

Top media outlets

1 Delfi (delfi.lv) Latvian & Russian, news portal — #1 in Latvia, most-visited site (Ekspress Grupp)
2 TVNET (tvnet.lv) Latvian (+RU), news portal — #2, leading online media group
3 LSM.lv Latvian/Russian/English, public broadcaster portal (LTV & Latvijas Radio) — most-trusted
4 Diena (diena.lv) Latvian, leading national daily newspaper + portal
5 Jauns.lv / Kas Jauns Latvian, popular entertainment & general-news portal
6 NRA.lv (Neatkarīgā) Latvian, daily newspaper + news portal

Top YouTube channels

1 dednahype (faceless comedy shorts) ~46M
2 Andrew Wave (#RedCarpetBoy, social-experiment comedy) ~11.4M
3 Toms Mucenieks (piano covers / classical crossover) ~3.0M
4 Tobu — Toms Burkovskis (EDM / NCS producer) ~1.2M
5 Valērija Lovčinovska (beauty & lifestyle, RU) ~0.91M
6 Daniels Laizans (entertainment / vlogs) ~0.26M

Creators & public figures

Top creators

T

Toms Mucenieks ~3.0M YouTube

YouTubepiano covers / classical crossover — music, premium & lifestyle brands

A

Andrew Wave (#RedCarpetBoy) ~11.4M YouTube

YouTubesocial-experiment comedy — mass youth reach, entertainment brands

Markus Riva ~123K Instagram (+TikTok)

Instagrampop singer/influencer; brand collabs (Coca-Cola, Adidas, Huawei)

V

Valērija Lovčinovska ~0.91M YouTube

YouTubebeauty & lifestyle (Russian-language) — beauty/fashion brands

V

Valerie Logina (@vallerielogina) ~827K TikTok

TikToklifestyle/dance — youth & fashion brands

R

Roberts Vītols ~0.1M+ YouTube

YouTubeautomotive reviews & mods; collabs Circle K, Coca-Cola, Hot Wheels

T

Tobu (Toms Burkovskis) ~1.2M YouTube

YouTubeEDM/NCS music producer — global gaming/music audience

Celebrities

Kristaps Porziņģis ~2M Instagram

NBA star (Atlanta Hawks; 2024 NBA champion with Boston Celtics), Latvia's biggest sports figure

Laima Vaikule ~419K Instagram

Legendary singer/actress, pop icon across the former USSR

Jeļena Ostapenko ~216K Instagram

Tennis player, 2017 French Open champion

Dons (Artūrs Šingirejs) ~126K Instagram

Singer-songwriter, represented Latvia at Eurovision 2024 ('Hollow')

Elīna Garanča ~115K Instagram

Opera mezzo-soprano, one of the world's leading singers

Dāvis Bertāns ~81K Instagram

NBA player ('Latvian Laser'), sharpshooter & national-team star

Affiliate & traffic

Hot verticals: iGaming (betting & casino — ad-restricted, affiliate/SEO-driven)
Finance (loans, cards, crypto/CASP)
E-commerce / retail
Nutra & beauty
Dating
Travel & tourism
Active networks: Admitad
Awin
TradeDoubler
Alfaleads (iGaming)
3SNET (iGaming)
Baltic Affiliate (regional)
Salesdoubler
Payouts: Tier-2 payouts: iGaming CPA ~€40–150/FTD or revshare
finance CPL ~€3–12
e-com CPS ~4–10%
dating CPL ~€1–4
nutra COD ~€10–20.
Competition: Small (~1.86M) but affluent, digitally advanced and bilingual market
iGaming most competitive
strict ad rules push gambling toward affiliate/SEO channels.
Seasonality: Q4 peak (Black Friday, Christmas)
summer betting around major football
Jāņi/Midsummer domestic-travel spike
softer general retail mid-summer.
Traffic sources: Meta (Facebook/Instagram) ads
Google Search & Display
TikTok
YouTube
Push & native (RichAds, MGID)
SEO/organic & email

Good to know

Capital: Riga
Major cities: Riga (~605K city / ~1.0M metro)
Daugavpils (~80K)
Liepāja (~67K)
Jelgava (~55K)
Jūrmala (~50K)
Ventspils (~33K)
Time zones: Single zone — Eastern European Time (UTC+2), EEST (UTC+3) with summer DST
Android vs iOS: 64% 36%

Android 64% iOS 36%
Phone brands: Apple (~35.8%)
Samsung (~35.0%)
Xiaomi (~13.0%)
Google (~2.6%)
Huawei (~2.0%)
Top e-commerce: 1a.lv (leading local marketplace)
Pigu.lv / 220.lv
Salidzini.lv (price comparison)
Rimi / Barbora (groceries)
Amazon (cross-border)
Temu
AliExpress
Peak activity: Weekday evenings ~19:00–22:00 EET and lunch ~12:00–14:00; desktop-heavy during work hours, mobile in evenings; weekends higher
Creative taboos: Latvian–Russian ethnic/language politics, Soviet occupation & WWII legacy, relations with Russia (esp. post-2022), citizenship/'non-citizens' — handle carefully
avoid Soviet-nostalgic or Russian-nationalist framing
Also worth knowing: Bilingual market — Latvian for ~62% plus Russian for ~1/3; many campaigns run dual-language.
Unusually desktop-heavy (~67% desktop, StatCounter) vs mobile-first regional peers — plan desktop creative.
Highly cashless/card-driven; parcel-locker delivery (Omniva/DPD) dominant, COD marginal.
iGaming ads are the Baltics' strictest, pushing gambling affiliates to SEO/organic.