Household budget and consumption expenditure

Data cover the amount and structure of household consumption expenditure at national and regional level, in urban and rural areas and by household type, and are collected through the Household Budget Survey (HBS).

The data are also used to:

• calculate consumer price index (inflation)and determine weights for groups and subgroups of goods and services;
• estimate gross domestic product by using HBS data to validate household final consumption expenditure in national accounts, analysing the expenditure structure at the six-digit ECOICOP level and comparing it with other detailed data sources. HBS is also the only data source for estimating certain consumption components, such as goods produced for own consumption and products gathered from the wild;
• analyse household food consumption.

Private household. 

All private households in Latvia. Information is collected both for the household as a whole and for each household member. Persons living at the selected address are included regardless of their declared place of residence.

Institutional households are excluded. An institutional household consists of persons whose housing and subsistence needs are provided by an institution. An institution is a legal entity providing long-term accommodation and services to a group of persons. Institutions usually have common facilities shared by residents, such as bathrooms, lounges, dining rooms, and bedrooms.

The HBS 2025 is the first wave for which the EU Regulation 2019/1700 was implemented. See more information on the legislation of the HBS  

• Framework Regulation – Regulation (EU) 2019/1700 of the European Parliament and of the Council establishing a common framework for European statistics relating to persons and households, based on data at individual level collected from samples, amending Regulations (EC) No 808/2004, (EC) No 452/2008 and (EC) No 1338/2008 of the European Parliament and of the Council, and repealing Regulation (EC) No 1177/2003 of the European Parliament and of the Council and Council Regulation (EC) No 577/98.

Legislation in force:

• Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) 2019/2181 specifying technical characteristics as regards items common to several datasets;
• Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) 2019/2180 specifying the detailed arrangements and content for the quality reports;
• Commission Delegated Regulation (EU) 2020/256 establishing a multiannual rolling planning;
• Commission Delegated Regulation (EU) 2023/126 specifying the number and title of the variables for the consumption domain;
• Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) 2022/2094 specifying the technical items of data sets, establishing the technical formats for transmission of information and specifying the detailed arrangements and content of the quality reports on the organisation of a sample survey in the consumption domain.

Statistics database

EU data on Eurostat website: Household budget surveys.

Household budget surveys do not take place every year in all EU Member States. Eurostat database contains data for: 1988, 1994, 1999, 2005, 2010, 2015 and 2020.

At the national level, consumption expenditure in Division 4 Housing, water, electricity, gas and other fuels does not include imputed rent for owner-occupied dwellings. Eurostat add imputed rent when publishing the data to improve comparability.

Fully comparable HBS data are available for 2002–2016. The survey was not conducted in 2017 and 2018. The most recent survey was conducted in 2025, and the next one is planned for 2030.

Due to changes in questionnaire design and improvements in the calculation methodology, the 2019 and 2025 data are not fully comparable with the results of earlier surveys.

In addition, the transition to ECOICOP ver. 2 introduced further methodological changes in 2025, meaning that the HBS 2025 data are not fully comparable with the 2019 data either.

Main structural changes in ECOICOP ver. 2 compared with the previous version:

The highest classification level, i.e. the division level, remained largely unchanged to minimise breaks in time series. However, Divisions 08 and 09 were substantially reorganised into 08 Information and communication and 09 Recreation, sport and culture.

The content of Division 08 was revised to reflect new equipment used for communication and access to information. Given the rapid technological change in this area, the classification is designed to be as technology-neutral as possible and to remain applicable as technologies evolve.

Former Division 12 was split into two divisions:

• 12 Insurance and financial services;
• 13 Personal care, social protection, miscellaneous goods and services.

Division 07 Transport, which previously covered passenger transport, now also covers transport services of goods.

Differences in expenditure on energy resources (e.g., between tables MBI150 and EPM360) arise from the data collection and compilation methodologies applied.

In table MBI150, data are obtained from the Household Budget Survey (HBS) and are compiled in accordance with the international Classification of Individual Consumption by Purpose (ECOICOP/UN COICOP).

Table EPM360 contains data from the Survey on Energy Consumption in Households (1-EPM).

Main reasons for differences in the data:

• HBS is a sample survey conducted approximately once every five years, with the latest available data referring to 2019. The 1-EPM is also a sample survey conducted every five years, with the latest available data referring to 2020.
• In the HBS, consumption expenditure is compiled both in monetary and in-kind terms at current prices of the reference year, whereas the 1-EPM covers monetary expenditure only.
• In the HBS, average expenditure on energy resources is calculated per household member at national level, including households that did not use the respective service.

Survey data

HBS data are obtained through a personal interview and a consumption expenditure diary. Usually, the information is provided by an adult household member who is well informed about the household as whole. Participation in the survey is voluntary.

Two main questionnaires are used: the household consumption expenditure questionnaire and the household questionnaire.

The household consumption expenditure questionnaire is filled in by respondents over a two-week period. They record regular household consumption expenditure, either by entering the expenditure or attaching receipts, and consumption of food products obtained from the kitchen garden or received free of charge.

The household questionnaire is completed either with an interviewer or independently online. It covers household composition, education, general health, employment, income in cash and in kind, housing conditions, mortgage loans, housing expenditure, agricultural land and expenditure on various goods and services.

Administrative data

• Individual data from the Register of Natural Persons: name, surname, date of birth, personal identity number, sex, age, marital status, family relationship, ethnicity, citizenship and country of birth.
• Certain income indicators are obtained fully or partly from administrative sources: 
  • State Revenue Service: gross and net income from employment, income from property rental and other income;
  • State Social Insurance Agency: state pensions and benefits and mandatory state social insurance contributions;
  • SIA ZZ Dats and individual local governments: municipal benefits;
  • Maintenance Guarantee Fund Administration: maintenance payments;
  • State Employment Agency: participation in support measures for unemployed persons.
• Education and employment-rated information compiled by the CSB: educational attainment, economic activity of the workplace and occupation.
• Consumption expenditure data from selected retail chains: obtained from administrative data sources held by legal entities. These data were used for the first time in 2025 to reduce the burden on respondents when recording expenditure.

Contact information for telephone interviews

To conduct telephone interviews, the CSB requires respondent names, surnames and telephone numbers.

In accordance with the Statistics Law, names and surnames are obtained from the Register of Natural Persons maintained by the Office of Citizenship and Migration Affairs.

Telephone numbers are obtained for the purposes of the survey from the Office of Citizenship and Migration Affairs, State Revenue Service, Road Traffic Safety Directorate and National Health Service in accordance with the Official Statistics Programme and the Statistics Law, as well as from electronic communications operators providing public mobile telephone networks in accordance with the Electronic Communications Law and the Statistics Law.

Sample is evenly distributed throughout the territory of Latvia, and all persons living in the selected household are covered.

HBS has a two-stage stratified sample. Addresses are stratified by income level and degree of urbanisation: Riga, the eight largest cities (Daugavpils, Jēkabpils, Jelgava, Jūrmala, Liepāja, Rēzekne, Valmiera, and Ventspils), other towns, rural areas. The first-stage sampling units are territorial clusters created specifically for the HBS.

The annual sample of addresses is evenly distributed over time and throughout the territory of Latvia.

* Not including overcoverage.

Survey data are extrapolated to all private households and the household members living in them.