Average gross salary at 1 886 euro

Central Statistical Bureau data¹ show that in Q2 2026 the average monthly gross wages and salaries stood at 1 886 euro (in full-time units). Compared with Q2 2025, the average monthly earnings before taxes increased by 78 euro or 4.3 %. Hourly earnings increased to 13.18 euro or by 3.9 %. 

Compared with Q1 2026, the average gross monthly earnings increased by 2.3 % and hourly earnings by 10.2 %. 

Average monthly net earnings reached 1 401 euro

The average wages and salaries after taxes amounted to 1 401 euro (representing 74.3% of the gross earnings) and compared with Q2 2025 grew by 4.4 %, thus overtaking the climb in both consumer prices and gross earnings. The real increase in the net earnings, considering the price rise, was 1.1 %.

Median monthly earnings at 1 527 euro

The gross median² wages and salaries amounted to 1 527 euro (in full-time units). Year on year, they increased by 63 euro, representing a rise of 4.3 % (from 1 464 euro in Q2 2025). The net median earnings (after taxes) stood at 1 168 euro and grew by 5.1 % year on year.

Slightly sharper upturn in private sector

Private sector saw higher year-on-year rise in the average earnings than the public sector – up by 5.4 % and 2.1 %, respectively, representing a 3.3 percentage points difference.

The average monthly earnings before taxes in the private sector stood at 1 876 euro, while in the public sector they were 50 euro higher, at 1 926 euro.  

Apart from the rise or decline in the remuneration 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 employees expressed in full-time equivalents both of which are also used to calculate average earnings.

Compared with Q2 2025, the estimated national wage and salary fund grew by 5.9 %, or by 232 million euro, and the number of salaried workers rose by 10.5 thousand people or 1.4 % (in full-time units). 

Mining and quarrying recorded the sharpest rise in the average earnings, of 14.4 % compared with Q2 2025. Real estate activities follow with 11.5 %, administrative and support service activities with 9.6 %, and wholesale and retail trade with 8.1 %.

Highest-paying economic activities³: telecommunication, computer programming, consulting, computing infrastructure and other information service activities 

Highest-paying economic activities recorded in Q2 2026 were telecommunication, computer programming, consulting, computing infrastructure and other information service activities (with the average gross monthly earnings in full-time units at 3 257 euro), financial and insurance activities (3 214 euro), electricity, gas, steam and air conditioning supply (2 526 euro), as well as professional, scientific and technical activities (2 430 euro), mining and quarrying (2 172 euro).

The lowest average gross monthly earnings for full-time work were registered in accommodation and food service activities (1 256 euro).

The highest average earnings recorded in Riga region

The highest average gross earnings (in full-time units) were recorded in Riga region, at 2 068 euro, while the lowest in Latgale, at 1 365 euro. Riga and Latgale had the greatest earnings gap – 34.0 %.

Hourly earnings reached 13.18 euro

The gross hourly earnings amounted to 13.18 euro, representing a rise of 3.9 % compared with Q2 2025 (up from 12.69 euro). 

Hourly labour costs (which include wages and salaries as well as other labour-related expenses of the employer) grew from 15.92 euro in Q2 2025 to 16.60 euro in Q2 2026 (by 4.3 %). 

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

Methodological explanations

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 dataset 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 indicates 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. 

Information on average earnings by region is compiled based on the address of the enterprise’s or institution’s office or principal place of activity. 

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 unrouded figures. 

In compliance with the EU Regulations, when compiling data on labour costs, gross earnings also include 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.

³  As of Q1 2026, economic activities in the average earnings statistics are classified according to the latest version of the statistical classification of economic activities, NACE Rev. 2.1.

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

More information on the data:
Sigita Helēna Blumberga
Business Statistics Methodology Section
E-mail: Sigita-Helena.Blumberga@csp.gov.lv
Phone: +37167366843