Market Research Companies in Latvia

Key figures for researchers

Population

1.845 million (beginning of 2026)¹

Riga

about 589 thousand people, 31.9% of the population (2025)¹

Other large cities

Daugavpils 78,112, Liepāja 67,398, Jelgava 54,821 (1 January 2025)²

Urban population

69.8% of residents (2025)¹

Aged 65 and over

22.4% of the population (beginning of 2026)¹

Latvians

63.8% of the population (beginning of 2026)¹

Other ethnic groups

Russians 23.7%, Belarusians 3.0%, Ukrainians 3.0% (beginning of 2023)³

Mother tongue (adults 18–69)

Latvian 64.3%, Russian 37.7%; language used at home: Latvian 62.0%, Russian 34.6% (2022)⁴

Internet use

93.6% of residents aged 16–74 use it regularly; 77.8% of people aged 65–74 (2025)⁵

Mobile subscriptions

121 per 100 people (2024)⁶

Research guide

Research landscape

Latvia is a small but digital EU market, often covered together with Estonia and Lithuania in Baltic studies. Full-service agencies work alongside specialist qualitative and B2B firms, online panel providers and field suppliers. Riga is by far the main business centre, with about 589 thousand people or 31.9% of the population; Daugavpils, Liepāja and Jelgava are the next largest cities.

69.8% of residents lived in cities in 2025, so a national sample needs quotas or weighting by region and settlement size, with Riga kept to its real share. A common quality reference is the ICC/ESOMAR International Code, revised in 2025 (fifth edition) and endorsed by more than 60 associations in over 50 countries.

Languages and fieldwork

Latvian is the official language and the main fieldwork language. At the beginning of 2026, Latvians made up 63.8% of the population; at the beginning of 2023, Russians were the second largest group (23.7%), followed by Belarusians and Ukrainians (3.0% each). Among adults aged 18 to 69, 64.3% have Latvian and 37.7% Russian as their mother tongue, and 34.6% mainly use Russian at home.

Consumer studies with a national sample therefore often offer a Russian-language version of the questionnaire, or bilingual interviewers, alongside Latvian. Check how the language of interview is chosen and recorded, and set quotas so that both language groups are covered. At the beginning of 2026, 87.9% of residents were citizens of Latvia, so samples drawn only from citizens miss part of the population.

Which methods work

Connectivity is high: in 2025, 93.6% of residents aged 16 to 74 used the internet regularly and 75.2% had bought something online, and there are 121 mobile subscriptions per 100 people. Online surveys using access panels work for most consumer targets, and mobile-friendly questionnaires are essential.

Older people are less well covered online: 77.8% of people aged 65 to 74 used the internet in 2025, and 22.4% of the population is aged 65 and over. Telephone (CATI) or face-to-face interviews may be needed for older, rural or offline audiences. In-person focus groups are usually held in Riga.

Timing

Līgo Day (23 June) and Jāņi Day (24 June), the summer solstice, are public holidays and the high point of the Latvian summer: avoid fieldwork in the days around them. The other public holidays include 1 January, Good Friday and Easter Monday, 1 May, 4 May (Restoration of Independence), 18 November (Proclamation of the Republic), 24, 25 and 26 December and 31 December. If 4 May or 18 November falls on a weekend, the following working day is a holiday; in 2027, they fall on a Tuesday and a Thursday.

School summer holidays are long: in 2027, they run from 1 June to 31 August for most grades, so families and business respondents are harder to reach over the summer. In the 2026/2027 school year, schools also close for autumn (19–23 October 2026), winter (21 December 2026 to 1 January 2027) and spring (8–12 March 2027) holidays.

Data protection

Personal data is governed by the GDPR and the Latvian Personal Data Processing Law (adopted 21 June 2018, in force since 5 July 2018). The supervisory authority is the Data State Inspectorate (Datu valsts inspekcija) in Riga.

Under the Law, a child must be at least 13 years old to consent to information society services, and some data subject rights are limited for processing for statistical or scientific research purposes. Ask your agency which lawful basis it uses, how respondents are informed, where the data is hosted and how identifiable data, recordings or video will be shared with you.

Working with a local agency

• Share a clear brief: objectives, target, sample size, regions, method, languages (Latvian, Russian, others) and deadline.
• Ask whether the agency follows the ICC/ESOMAR International Code, and which panels or fieldwork suppliers will be used.
• Ask how Russian-speaking, older and rural respondents will be reached, and how quotas and weighting are set.
• Check fieldwork dates against Līgo and Jāņi (23–24 June), 4 May, 18 November and the school holidays.
• Agree in writing who is controller and who is processor of the personal data, and the retention period.
• Compare several proposals: you can send one request to up to 5 companies from this page.