Latvia tightens alcohol sales and advertising from 1 August

31.07.2025 - On 1 August 2025 Latvia will introduce some of the tightest controls on retail alcohol sales in the European Union. The amendments to the Law on the Circulation of Alcoholic Beverages were passed by the Saeima (parliament) on 9 January after more than two years of debate. They are meant to curb Latvia’s exceptionally high alcohol consumption and related harms. According to the authors of the law, Latvia has the highest per‑capita alcohol consumption in both the EU and the OECD.

What will change on 1 August

Shorter selling hours

From 1 August, shops and supermarkets will only be allowed to sell alcohol between 10:00 and 20:00 from Monday to Saturday and 10:00 to 18:00 on Sundays. Bars and restaurants that wish to operate later must re‑register their licences with the State Revenue Service by 31 December. Purchases made online or via mobile apps will no longer be delivered on demand; couriers must wait at least six hours before handing over alcohol. This delay is intended to reduce impulse buying and drinking.

End to price promotions and discount advertising

The law forbids all price promotions, including “2‑for‑1” deals or loyalty‑programme discounts. Advertising that highlights prices or discounts is banned across all media: print, cinema, internet, email and in‑shop displays. A separate amendment to the Electronic Media Law adopted in September 2024 clarifies that the prohibition on price advertising applies to beer and wine adverts on television and radio; the measure aims to protect youth and reduce overall consumption. Health warnings stating that alcohol harms health and is illegal to sell to minors must be prominently displayed wherever alcohol is sold.

Restrictions on where and how alcohol is offered

The new law bans retailers from offering multiple units at a lower price, gifting alcohol or including it as compensation. Shops may not give away alcohol samples, and hospitality venues must stop serving alcohol at gambling machines, card tables or other gaming equipment, a provision designed to separate two addiction-prone activities. Distance sales remain legal, but deliveries to the buyer cannot take place earlier than six hours after the order. Although some legislators earlier proposed bans on gas‑station sales and home delivery, these measures did not make it into the final law.

Why Latvia is making these changes

A country with Europe’s heaviest drinkers

Latvia’s per‑capita alcohol consumption stands at around 12.8 litres of pure alcohol per person per year, equivalent to about 2.6 bottles of wine or 4.9 litres of beer per adult each week. An OECD assessment notes that 44 % of Latvian adults binge‑drink at least once a month, and nearly one in four 15-year-old girls and boys have already been drunk. Men drink more than three times as much as women (20.9 litres versus 6.1 litres of pure alcohol per year). These drinking patterns are taking a toll on public health and the economy: the OECD estimates that diseases and injuries related to drinking above one drink per day for women and one-and-a-half drinks for men account for 3.7 % of health expenditure and depress Latvia’s GDP by about 3.6 %.

A 2024 policy brief by researchers from the Baltic International Centre for Economic Policy Studies and Rīga Stradiņš University, published by the FREE Network, highlights the scale of the problem. Latvia has the highest per-capita registered alcohol consumption among EU and OECD countries, and spirits make up around 40% of all alcohol consumed—a much higher share than in countries with similar overall consumption. The brief estimates that alcohol-related harm cost Latvia 1.3–1.8% of GDP in 2021, with healthcare and law enforcement alone accounting for about 0.45%.

Legislative journey

Work on the amendments began in early 2023. The Social and Labour Affairs Committee of the Saeima reviewed proposals to raise the legal purchasing age from 18 to 20, restrict sales at gas stations and shorten hours. In May 2024 the Saeima voted for a package of changes that included the new 10:00‑20:00/10:00‑18:00 sales hours, mandatory nutritional labelling, and a ban on advertising prices and discounts across all media. It rejected the proposed increase of the legal drinking age - 38 MPs supported it, 25 opposed and 23 abstained. Committee rapporteur Hosams Abu Meri argued that Latvia could not ignore its high drinking statistics; restrictions on advertising and availability were necessary to curb consumption. Some deputies wanted stricter measures, such as banning gas-station sales or ending internet sales, but these proposals failed to gain majority support.