Riga, 10.03.2022 By 2020, a household consumes an average of 175 kilowatt hours (kWh) of electricity per month, which is 7 kWh less than in 2015, according to the Central Energy Bureau (CSB)’s Energy Survey.

83% of the energy used by households is used for hot water and hot water, 8% for cooking and 9% for other needs including electricity (refrigerator, TV, computer, washing machine, other household appliances).

Most households (39.4% of households) used electricity, natural gas (28.7%) or liquefied petroleum gas (19.8%) for cooking. 12.1% of households used firewood for cooking.

Consumption of diesel fuel increases, consumption of petrol and liquefied petroleum decreases

By 2020, more than half (54.3%) of Latvia households had at least one car. Over the past five years, petrol and LPG consumption in cars has fallen by 19% and 59%, respectively, while diesel consumption has increased by 45%.

The number of households receiving heat from external suppliers is increasing

58% of Latvian households receive heat from external suppliers. In Riga, 84% of households received heating, in cities in the republic * – an average of 71%, in other cities – 56%, but in rural areas only 17%. In 2020, the number of households in Latvia receiving heat from external suppliers increased by 5% or 23.3 thousand compared to 2015, and in Riga the number of such households increased by 9% or 20.6 thousand.

The total heated area in 2020 was 58.4 million. M.² Or an average of 70 m² Every residence. More than half (55.0%) of the heated area is made up of apartments, while the rest are detached houses (45.0%). By 2020, the total heated area will have increased by 2.7 million. M.²Compared to 2015. Zemgale (7.5%) and Pieriga (7.4%) have seen the largest increase in tropical regions since 2015.

Homes built after 2000 have the lowest heating costs

Of all the dwellings, between 2015 and 2020, 3.0% were fully insulated, some energy efficiency improvement measures were taken (window replacement, exterior wall insulation, roof replacement) 8.9% of dwellings and 80% dwellings did not have insulation measures taken. Of that, 8.1% of dwellings were built after 2000 and were insulated at the time of construction in accordance with construction standards.

In homes insulated between 2015 and 2020, the average heating cost is about 1 m2.² The heated areas were 6.04 eur / m²Energy efficiency improvement is 20.5% lower than homes without measures (7.60 / m²). In turn, for dwellings built after 2000, the average heating cost, obtained from an external heat supplier, is the lowest – 4.26 euros / m.² (43.9% less than homes built and uninsulated before 2000).

One-third of households prepare firewood for the winter

By 2020, firewood will be used to heat 82.5% of households, most of which are used for cooking ovens and stoves. Since 2015, the share of households purchasing firewood has declined slightly and the share of households producing firewood has increased. Only 60.8% of households using firewood bought firewood. About one-third (32.7%) of households produce firewood from their own farmland or forest, 1.5% receive firewood free of charge as social assistance, and other households (5%) receive firewood differently.

Wood chip briquettes and wood pellets for heating make up 16% of wood-burning dwellings, mostly in integrated central heating and hot water boilers. The use of wood chip briquettes in indoor stoves increased by 4.1 percentage points in 2020 (6.9%) compared to 2015 (2.8%).

The role of desktop computers is declining and the share of laptops is increasing

By 2020, almost all Latvian households had a refrigerator (98.9%), a television set (92.8%) and an automatic washing machine (92.4%). Computers make up 72.9% of households, but the share of laptops has increased significantly – from 48.1% in 2015 to 60% in 2020 – while the share of desktops has dropped from 33.4% to 26.3%. The share of various electrical appliances in homes (electric kettles, electric tumble dryers, freezers, dishwashers) is increasing.

The household energy survey is conducted every five years, with the aim of finding out how much energy Latvian households use by 2020 and what their costs are. 35% of households surveyed were in Riga, 21% in large cities, 15% in other cities and 28% in rural areas.

More information on home energy consumption is available on the Official Statistics Portal in the “” category.Energy consumption in homes”

* According to the Administrative Territorial Division 2020

Central Statistical Bureau