In June 2024, the consumer price index (CPI) in Latvia rose by 1.4% compared to the previous year, as reported by the Central Statistical Bureau (CSB).
This increase was mainly influenced by the prices of goods and services related to transport, alcoholic beverages and tobacco products, food and non-alcoholic beverages, and healthcare. The overall rise was offset by a 1.6 percentage point drop in prices of goods and services related to housing.
Within the food and non-alcoholic beverages category, prices increased by 1.5%. Notable price increases were observed in potatoes (29.0%), bakery products (6.9%), olive oil (37.2%), chocolate (9.0%), fruit and vegetable juices (12.3%), sweets (17.1%), and coffee (3.0%).
On the other hand, there were declines in the prices of flour and other cereals (12.0%), cheese and curd (3.3%), bread (1.9%), fresh vegetables (1.7%), eggs (6.2%), milk products (3.6%), sugar (11.7%), and vegetable oil (5.9%).
In terms of retail trade turnover, there was a 1.0% increase in total retail trade turnover in May 2024 compared to the previous year. However, the turnover of retail trade in food products fell by 0.5%. Retail trade in non-food products (excluding automotive fuel) increased by 0.8%, while the turnover of retail sale of automotive fuel rose by 4.5%.
The confidence indicator among Latvian retailers fell by 0.8 points in June 2024, a 1.7% drop from the previous month. Despite this decline, the business environment remained positive in all retail trade sub-sectors except for the sale of motor vehicles.
In this sector, the confidence indicator was negative again in June, standing at -7.8, after a short-term improvement in April and May. In the retail trade of food, the business environment improved by 1.8 percentage points, reaching 17.4.
The unemployment rate in Latvia stood at 7.2% in the first quarter of the year, a marginal increase (0.4 percentage points) on the previous quarter.
Economists noted that prices for services are still rising relatively quickly in Latvia, especially for labor-intensive services. As Mārtiņš Āboliņš, an economist at Bank Citadele told local portal LSM in May, the rapid growth of wages in Latvia poses the biggest risk to inflation.
"Wages need to rise, of course, but wage growth should come at the expense of improvements in the efficiency of the economy, not at the expense of price increases," he noted.
Here's an overview of the top five supermarket retail chains in Latvia, according to their most recently-available full-year turnover. All data is supplied by Retail-Index (www.retail-index.com).
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1. Rimi
Turnover: €1 billion (2021)
Rimi is top of the list with an annual turnover of €1 billion recorded in 2021.
Rimi Latvia is part of Rimi Baltic, which is represented in the Baltic countries by three companies – Rimi Latvia, Rimi Lietuva and Rimi Eesti Food.
The company manages more than 139 Rimi stores in Latvia. It employs more than 12,300 people in all three Baltic countries. Its banners include Rimi Express, Rimi Hyper, Rimi Mini and Rimi Super.
2. Maxima
Turnover: €915 million (2021)
Maxima recorded an annual turnover of €915 million in 2021.
The company is part of the Maxima Grupe holding, the largest retailer chain and employer in the Baltics, providing jobs for more than 30,000 employees in five countries – Lithuania, Latvia, Estonia, Poland and Bulgaria.
It has 167 outlets in Latvia and also operates the banner Barbora.
Read more: Maxima Extends Contactless Shopping Service To More Stores
3. Mego
Turnover: €250 million (2019)
Mego recorded an annual turnover of €250 million in 2019.
The retailer has approximately 90 stores located in the largest Latvian cities - Riga, Daugavpils, Liepāja, Jelgava, Jūrmala, Ventspils, Rezekne, Ogre, Valmiera, Jekabpils, Tukums, Salaspils, Cesis, Ludza, Sigulda, Talsi and Bauska.
In 2014, Mego took over 51 outlets operated by Lithuanian retailer IKI, owned by Palink.
4. LaTS
Turnover: €250 million (2020)
The Association of Latvian Traders was founded in 2007 and recorded a turnover of of €250 million in 2020.
LaTS unites small and medium-sized Latvian food retail companies with the aim of reducing their costs, improving competitiveness in the local market and conducting joint marketing activities. The network includes more than 700 outlets throughout Latvia as of 2022.
5. Madara 89
Turnover: €172 million (2021)
Madara 89 is fifth on the list and recorded an annual turnover of €172 million in 2021.
It operated 130 outlets in Latvia as of 2022 and its banners include Mini Top!, RIGHT and Top!
About Retail-Index
Retail-Index is a specialist supplier of management information on consumer retail markets, provided by Veraart Research Group in the Netherlands. Its mission is to supply managers with up-to-date key information on retail markets in Europe and support them in their international expansion.
The company dates back to 1964, when it started as a market research and marketing consulting company for consumer products and services. In 1989, it started publishing written reports on various retail sectors in Europe. As of 2005, it publishes its information on retailers through the online database and curated datasheet exports available on www.retail-index.com. A team of researchers manages the data to reflect upon current developments in the markets, collected from an extensive number of sources.
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