Average monthly earnings before taxes at 1 808 euro

Central Statistical Bureau data¹ show that the average monthly gross wages and salaries stood at 1 808 euro in Q2 2025. Year-on-year, the average monthly earnings before taxes increased by 137 euro or 8.2 %, and hourly earnings went up to 12.69 euro (by 11.2 %). Faster earnings growth was recorded in the private sector. Explore more about wages and salaries on the official statistics portal.

Compared with the previous quarter, the average gross monthly earnings grew by 2.9 % and hourly earnings increased by 9.4 %.

Compared with the first six months of 2024, the average gross monthly earnings (in full-time units) rose by 8.2 % in the first half of 2025, while compared with the average wages and salaries of 2024, they went up by 5.8 %.

Average monthly earnings after taxes reached 1 342 euro

Average net wages and salaries amounted to 1 342 euro (representing 74.2 % of the gross earnings) and year-on-year grew by 10.6 %, thus overtaking the climb in both consumer prices and gross earnings. The real increase in the net earnings, considering the price rise, was 6.6 %.

Median monthly earnings at 1 464 euro

The gross median² wages and salaries (in full-time units) amounted to 1 464 euro in Q2 2025. Year-on-year, they increased by 113 euro, representing a rise of 8.4 % (from 1 350 euro in Q2 2024). The net median earnings (after taxes) stood at 1 111 euro and grew by 12.1 % compared to Q2 2024.

Sharper annual upturn in private sector

Private sector saw a 0.3 percentage point higher year-on-year rise in the average earnings than the public sector (8.4 % and 8.1 % respectively). Quarter-on-quarter, increase in the private sector was 1.1 percentage points lower in Q2 2025 (at 9.5 %).

The average monthly earnings before taxes in the private sector stood at 1 781 euro in Q2 2025, while in the public were 105 euro higher, at 1 886 euro.  

Apart from the rise or decline in the renumeration of employees, average earnings are also influenced by the labour force demand and supply trends as well as labour market structural changes. Generally, the mentioned factors cause changes in the wage and salary fund and in the number of full-time workers both of which are also used to calculate average earnings.

Year-on-year, the estimated national wage and salary fund grew by 6.1 %, or by 227.8 million euro, while the number of salaried workers (in full-time units) reduced by 13.4 thousand people (1.8 %).

In terms of economic activities, the sharpest year-on-year rise in the average earnings was registered in other service activities (which include activities of religious, political, etc. membership organisations, repair of computers and personal and household goods, washing and (dry-)cleaning of textile and fur products, hairdressing and other beauty treatment, funeral and related activities, etc. personal service activities) – 18.2 %. Accommodation and food service activities follow with 11.5 %, real estate activities with 10.7 %, and administrative and support service activities with 10.2 %.

Highest-paying economic activities: financial activities, information and communication

The average gross monthly earnings above the national average (in full-time units) were recorded in financial and insurance activities (3 052 euro), information and communication (2 804 euro), energy sector (2 389 euro), professional, scientific and technical activities (2 270 euro), public administration (2 104 euro), water supply, sewerage, waste management, and remediation activities (1 934 euro), mining and quarrying (1 899 euro), as well as human health and social work activities (1 831 euro).

The lowest gross earnings were registered in accommodation and food service activities (1 219 euro).

The highest average earnings in Riga and Riga region

The highest average gross wages and salaries (in full-time units) were recorded in Riga region (1 980 euro), while the lowest in Latgale (1 317 euro). Riga and Latgale had the greatest earnings gap – 33.5 %.

Hourly earnings reached 12.69 euro

The gross hourly earnings amounted to 12.69 euro in Q2 2025. Year-on-year, they grew by 11.2 % (from 11.41 euro in Q2 2024).

Driven by a 6.2 % increase in the total labour costs and a 4.6 % drop in the hours worked, hourly labour costs (which include wages and salaries as well as other labour-related expenses of the employer) rose by 11.3 % year-on-year (from 14.30 euro in Q2 2024 to 15.92 euro in Q2 2025).

Additional statistics for wages and salaries as well as hourly labour costs in Latvia is available in the official statistics portal sections Wages and salaries and Labour costs.

Methodological information

¹ Average earnings are calculated from working-day and seasonally unadjusted data, which are converted into full-time units.

² Median is the value that separates the higher half from the lower half of a data set arranged in ascending or descending order. It represents the middle point, dividing the indicators into two equal parts. Median earnings are usually lower than the arithmetic mean (average wages and salaries). The difference between the median and the mean indicated the degree of asymmetry in the earnings distribution. If the distribution is completely symmetrical, the median and the mean are equal.

The earnings statistics is produced based on the results of a sample survey conducted among private companies, sole proprietors, central and local government bodies, foundations, associations and funds, as well as administrative data.

In the Central Statistical Bureau earnings statistics, public sector includes central and local government bodies, companies and other entities in which central or local government holds 50% or more of the capital or exercises control, and excludes foundations, associations, and funds, and the companies they own or control.

According to the European System of Accounts (ESA 2010), general government sector is defined as consisting of institutional units, which are non-market producers whose output is intended for individual and collective consumption, and are financed by compulsory payments made by units belonging to other sectors, and institutional units principally engaged in the redistribution of national income and wealth. The sub-sectors of the general government in Latvia are: central government, local government, and social security funds.

The breakdown of the earnings statistics by territorial unit is based on the address of the company’s registered office.

Median is calculated based on the information available in statistical surveys and administrative data of the State Revenue Service.

Average monthly and hourly earnings and change in hourly labour costs are calculated from not rounded figures

In compliance with the EU Regulations, when compiling data on labour costs, gross earnings include also wage or salary in kind (goods and services provided by the employer to employees free of charge or at a lower price, living quarters, mobile telephone, transport compensation, etc.) and exclude payment for the days not worked due to illness but nevertheless paid by the employer. Other labour costs include employer's social contributions (payments made by employers for the benefit of their employees to insurers, which cover statutory, conventional, contractual and voluntary contributions in respect of insurance against social risks or needs), gifts, sick pay (sick-leave certificate A), severance pay, State entrepreneurial risk fee.

Media requests:
Public Relations Section
Email: media@csp.gov.lv
Phone: +371 27880666

More information on the data:
Lija Luste
Business Statistics Methodology Section
Email: Lija.Luste@csp.gov.lv
Phone: +371 67366917