Latvia · Europe
Moving to Riga
Riga quick facts
Latvia at a glance
Europe & Central Asia
Economy
World Bank · 2025Religion
% of populationCIA World Factbook / national censuses
Cost of living in Riga
Can you move to Latvia?
Pick your passport to see whether you can enter Latvia — and what it takes to stay.
Entry rules come from github.com/imorte/passport-index-data, updated 17 February 2026. They change without notice — confirm with the official immigration service before booking.
Getting set up in Latvia
Residence permit, the declaration of residence, and the landlord's consent
Latvia issues a combined residence-and-work temporary residence permit through the PMLP. Salary floors are coefficients of the national average gross wage published by the Central Statistical Bureau and are revised annually, with lower coefficients in sectors whose average pay is below the national figure. Separately, and independently of the permit, everyone must declare their place of residence within a month of moving — and that declaration requires the property owner's consent.
Read the full step-by-step guideExchanging your driving licence at the CSDD
The Road Traffic Safety Directorate (CSDD) runs the driver register and the tests. A non-EU licence should be exchanged within about a year of establishing residence in Latvia, and the exchange normally requires passing the Latvian theory examination and, in many cases, the practical test. The theory paper can be sat in Latvian, English, French, German or Russian, which is a real convenience.
Read the full step-by-step guideOpening a Latvian bank account
Swedbank, SEB, Citadele and Luminor dominate retail banking. All want your personal code, a residence document and a documented reason to be in Latvia. Latvia dismantled its large non-resident banking sector after 2018 under international pressure, and the compliance culture that replaced it is strict — a foreign passport and an intention are not enough. With a residence permit and an employment contract, however, the process is routine and same-day.
Read the full step-by-step guideState health care, the NVD register and finding a family doctor
Latvia funds health care from the state budget rather than from an insurance premium, with patients paying co-payments at the point of use. Access runs through the National Health Service's register of beneficiaries — a registration you must make. Everything then routes through your ģimenes ārsts, the family doctor whose list you join by written agreement. Private clinics in Riga are plentiful and used widely for speed rather than for coverage.
Read the full step-by-step guideGetting a Latvian mobile number
Three networks — LMT, Tele2 and Bite — with good nationwide coverage and cheap data. Latvia has historically not required prepaid SIMs to be registered to a named person, which made buying one trivial. That is changing: on 3 March 2026 the government backed the Interior Ministry's proposal to require registration of prepaid users. Check whether the requirement is in force on the day you buy, and bring identification either way.
Read the full step-by-step guideIncome tax after the 2025 restructuring, and what social contributions take
Latvia restructured personal income tax on 1 January 2025. There are now two bands: 25.5% on annual income up to €105,300 and 33% above it, plus an additional 3% on income over €200,000. The old graduated non-taxable minimum was replaced by a flat one — €510 a month in 2025, €550 in 2026 and €570 from 2027. Mandatory social contributions run at 34.09% in total, split 23.59% employer and 10.5% employee. Everything is filed through the VID's EDS portal.
Read the full step-by-step guideEach guide has verified costs, timelines, required documents, and the non-obvious gotchas — sourced from official government pages. Last verified August 2026.
Essential Latvian phrases
Reading a list isn’t learning it. Globe Quest turns these into a trainer — hear each phrase spoken, drill them with spaced repetition, and get scored as you say them out loud.
What to know before you go
Declaring your address needs your landlord's written consent — settle it before you sign
CriticalYou must declare your place of residence within a month of moving, and a third-country national declares it in person at the PMLP with a €4.27 state fee. The catch is that the declaration requires the property owner's consent, normally written into the rental contract as a clause. Landlords who do not declare their rental income refuse it. Failing to declare can attract a penalty of up to €350, so this is a term to negotiate before signing, not after.
Register with the NVD to get into the state health system
CriticalLatvian health care is funded from the state budget rather than by an insurance premium, and access runs through the National Health Service's register of beneficiaries. Foreigners legally employed here on a temporary residence permit, and EU/EEA/Swiss citizens, can register on the same terms as locals. Registration is a step you take — it does not happen automatically when the permit is issued.
The income tax bands changed on 1 January 2025 — old guides are wrong
CriticalLatvia replaced its three-rate progressive system with two bands: 25.5% up to €105,300 a year, 33% above it, plus a further 3% on income over €200,000. The old graduated non-taxable minimum was replaced with a flat one — €550 a month in 2026, rising to €570 from 2027. Any calculator or article describing 20/23/31% is describing a system that no longer exists.
Riga is genuinely bilingual, and that is a practical fact not a political one
ImportantA large minority of Riga's residents speak Russian at home, and in shops, markets and older service settings Russian is often the path of least resistance. Latvian is the state language, all official business is conducted in it, and A2 Latvian is required for permanent residence. Both things are true at once, and newcomers who understand that navigate the city far more comfortably.
Art Nouveau flats are beautiful and expensive to heat
ImportantRiga has one of the world's largest concentrations of Art Nouveau architecture, and a great deal of it is ordinary rented housing. Ceilings are high, windows are original, and district heating is billed separately from rent. The January bill on an unrenovated period flat can add a hundred euros a month for four months. Ask for the actual winter bills for that specific flat.
Riga is the cheapest of the Baltic capitals to live in
Good to knowRents, groceries and going out all sit below Vilnius and clearly below Tallinn, and the gap widens the further out you look. That is genuinely why people choose it. It comes with lower salaries in most sectors outside IT and finance, so run the ratio rather than the absolute number.
Top industries & employers
Banking & financial services
Swedbank, SEB, Citadele, Luminor
Riga is the largest banking centre in the Baltics by headcount, with substantial regional operations, risk and technology functions. The sector was heavily restructured after the 2018 non-resident banking clean-up and is now far more domestically focused.
IT services & product
Accenture Latvia, Tietoevry, Printful, Lokalise, Nordigen alumni
Printful and Lokalise are the best-known Latvian product exports. Alongside them sits a deep shared-services and outsourcing layer serving Nordic and German clients, which is the biggest source of English-language jobs.
Transport, logistics & the port
Freeport of Riga, Latvijas dzelzceļš, airBaltic
The Freeport of Riga is one of the larger Baltic ports and the reason a whole freight-forwarding and customs economy exists here. airBaltic's hub at Riga Airport makes the city the best-connected point in the Baltics.
Pharmaceuticals & life sciences
Grindeks, Olainfarm, Latvian Institute of Organic Synthesis
A genuine industrial-scale pharmaceutical tradition — Grindeks and Olainfarm both trace back to Soviet-era research institutes and still manufacture and export at scale.
Timber, wood processing & construction materials
Latvijas Finieris, Latvijas valsts meži
Forestry is one of Latvia's largest export sectors. Latvijas Finieris is a global birch plywood producer, and the whole chain from forest to furniture is domestically held.
Creative industries & film
Riga Film Studio, local post-production houses
Riga's period streetscapes stand in for pre-war Europe in international productions, and there is a small but persistent production services trade around that.
Where to go in Riga
Alberta iela and the Art Nouveau quarter
Landmark · Centrs
The densest concentration of Jugendstil facades in Europe, much of it designed by Mikhail Eisenstein, and still full of ordinary flats.
Local tip: Look up, then go inside — the Art Nouveau Museum at Alberta iela 12 is a restored apartment rather than a gallery, which is the point.
Rīgas Centrāltirgus
Food · Behind the railway station
One of Europe's largest markets, housed in five repurposed First World War zeppelin hangars.
Local tip: The fish and dairy pavilions are where locals actually shop. Buy smoked sprats, rye bread and curd, and eat lunch in the pavilion behind rather than in the tourist stalls out front.
Vecrīga (Old Town)
Landmark · City centre
A compact medieval and Hanseatic core, walled by the river on one side and the canal park on the other.
Local tip: It is small enough to cross in fifteen minutes and touristy in the middle. Eat one street back, and come in January when it is empty and floodlit.
Kalnciema kvartāls
Culture · Āgenskalns, left bank
A restored block of nineteenth-century wooden buildings that hosts a Saturday farmers' market, concerts and craft fairs.
Local tip: This is where you see the wooden-architecture Riga that most visitors never cross the river for. Saturday morning is the whole point of the place.
Mežaparks
Nature · North of the centre
One of Europe's oldest planned garden suburbs, wrapped in pine forest with a lake, a zoo and the Song Festival grounds.
Local tip: The open-air stage seats tens of thousands and hosts the Latvian Song and Dance Celebration every five years — an event that genuinely defines the country, and worth planning a visit around.
Ķīpsala
Hidden gemNeighborhood · Island in the Daugava
An island of restored wooden houses and modern apartments directly opposite the Old Town, with a river beach on the far side.
Local tip: Ten minutes' walk from the centre and almost nobody goes. The sandy strip on the western shore gives you the best skyline view in Riga with no one on it.
Emergency numbers in Riga
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