Retail sales in Latvia increased by 4.3% year-on-year in February 2026, easing from a more than three-year high of 6.1% recorded in January. Growth in non-food retail sales, excluding automotive fuel, slowed to 6.7% from 9.5% in the previous month. The deceleration was particularly pronounced in several categories: hardware, instruments, construction materials, and sanitary equipment (3.1% vs 12.5% in January); cultural and recreational goods (5.5% vs 30.4%); pharmaceutical and medical goods (10.2% vs 13.9%); and clothing, footwear, and leather products (5.4% vs 16.5%).
The overall moderation in retail trade was further affected by a marked slowdown in automotive fuel sales, which rose 6.2% year-on-year, down from 11.4% in January. By contrast, sales of food products stabilized in February after having fallen by 1.7% in the previous month.
On a seasonally adjusted month-on-month basis, retail turnover declined by 1.1% in February, reversing a 2.7% increase in January.
