Household electricity consumption slightly decreased

Household Energy Survey carried out by Central Statistical Bureau (CSB) shows that in 2020, on average, a household consumed 175 kilowatt-hours (kWh) of electricity per month, which is 7 kWh less than in 2015.

Households used 83 % of the energy consumed for heating and hot water, 8 % for cooking and 9 % for other uses, including electrical appliances (fridge, TV, computer, washing machine and other appliances).

For cooking, households mostly used electricity (39.4 % of households), natural gas (28.7 %) or LPG (19.8 %). Firewood was used for cooking by 12.1 % of households.

Diesel consumption increases, petrol and LPG consumption decreases

In 2020, more than half (54.3 %) of households in Latvia had at least one motor vehicle. Over the last five years, consumption of petrol and LPG in motor vehicles has fallen by 19 % and 59 % respectively, while diesel consumption has increased by 45 %.

Number of households receiving heat from external suppliers increasing

58 % of households in Latvia received heat from external suppliers. In Riga, 84 % of households received heating, in large cities - 71 % on average, in other cities - 56 %, and in rural areas - only 17 % of households. In 2020, compared to 2015, the number of households in Latvia receiving heat from external suppliers increased by 5 % or 23.3 thousand; in Riga, the number of such households increased by 9 % or 20.6 thousand.

In 2020, the total heated area was 58.4 million m² or an average of 70 m² per dwelling. More than half (55.0 %) of the heated area consists of apartments, while the rest is made up of detached houses (45.0 %). The total heated area in 2020 has increased by 2.7 million m² compared to 2015. The largest increases in heated area since 2015 are observed in Zemgale (by 7.5 %) and Pierīga (by 7.4 %).

The lowest heat expenditure was in dwellings built after 2000

Of all dwellings, 3.0 % were fully insulated between 2015 and 2020, 8.9 % underwent some form of energy efficiency improvement (replacement of windows, insulation of external walls, replacement of roofing) and 80 % had no insulation measures. In turn, 8.1 % of the dwellings were built after 2000 and already had insulation measures during construction according to the building standard.

In dwellings that have been insulated between 2015 and 2020, the average expenditure on thermal energy per m² of heated area was 6.04 EUR/m², which is 20.5 % lower than in dwellings without energy efficiency improvement measures (7.60 EUR/m²). In turn, dwellings built after 2000 had the lowest average expenditure on heat from an external supplier - 4.26 EUR/m² (43.9 % less than dwellings built before 2000 and not insulated).

A third of households prepare their own firewood for winter

In 2020, 82.5 % of wood-consuming dwellings used wood for heating, which is most commonly used for cooking on stoves and cookers. Since 2015, there has been a slight decrease in the share of households buying firewood and an increase in the share of households producing their own firewood. Only 60.8 % of households consuming firewood purchased the firewood they consume. About a third of households (32.7 %) produce their own firewood from their own farmland or forests, 1.5 % receive free firewood as social assistance and the remaining households (5 %) obtain firewood in other ways.

Wood briquettes and wood pellets are used for heating in 16% of the wood-using homes, mostly in combined central heating and hot water boilers. The use of wood briquettes in room stoves in 2020 (6.9 %) has increased by 4.1 percentage points compared to 2015 (2.8 %).

The share of stationary computers is decreasing, portable computers are increasing

The overall average age of electrical appliances in 2020 (6.79) has decreased by 2.1 % compared to 2015 (6.94). In 2020, almost every Latvian household had a fridge (98.9 %), a TV (92.8 %) and an automatic washing machine (92.4 %). Computers are available in 72.9 % of households, but the share of laptops has increased significantly - from 48.1 % in 2015 to 60 % in 2020 - while the share of stationary computers has decreased from 33.4 % to 26.3 %. The share of households with various electrical appliances (electric kettles, electric tumble dryers, freezers, dishwashers) continues to increase.

The Household Energy Survey is carried out every five years and this survey aimed to find out how much energy Latvian households consumed in 2020 and what their expenditure was. Of the households surveyed, 35 % were located in Riga, 21 % in large cities, 15 % in other cities and 28 % in rural areas.

More information on Household Energy Consumption is available on the Official Statistics Portal under “Household Energy Consumption”

*according to the administrative territorial breakdown in 2020

Media requests:
Communication Section
E-mail: media@csb.gov.lv
Phone: +371 27880666

More information on data:
Ģertrūde Vīksna
Environment and Energy Statistics Section
E-mail: Gertrude.Viksna@csp.gov.lv
Phone: +371 67366823