Like many Eastern European countries, Latvia takes a hard line on alcohol and nicotine. Taxes on wine, beer and spirits are well above average after adjusting for affordability. Spirits cannot be advertised on television, radio or outdoors. Beer and wine cannot be advertised on billboards. Alcohol sponsorship was almost entirely prohibited in 2014.

Alcohol cannot be delivered after 10pm and Latvia’s Reducing Alcohol Consumption and Alcoholism Plan includes proposals to reduce the drink-driving limit to almost zero and ban all alcohol advertising in print media, cinemas and online. Price promotions and complementary drinks in gambling venues could also be banned. Closing time in the off-trade will be reduced from 10pm to 8pm from August 2025 (and from 8pm to 6pm on Sundays).

Tobacco advertising is illegal in all forms and the age at which Latvians can buy any non-pharmaceutical nicotine product rose to 20 in January 2025. Cigarette vending machines are prohibited and a tobacco retail display ban was introduced in October 2020. Smoking is generally banned indoors although designated smoking areas are permitted in workplaces, casinos, airports and some trains. Smoking is banned at public transport stops and within ten metres of government buildings, as well as in parks, squares and playgrounds except designated areas. The ban includes outdoor places within ten metres of government buildings, public transport stops, apartment stairwells/corridors, balconies, and around children. If someone asks you to stop smoking near them, you must do so by law. The same rule applies to vaping.

E-cigarettes are classified as consumer products and can be sold to anyone over the age of 18, but their use is prohibited wherever smoking is banned and a tax of €2 on 10ml bottles of vape juice has helped Latvia maintain one of the highest smoking rates in the EU. That seems to be the way the government likes it. The tax on heated tobacco rose from €80/kg to €120 per/kg in 2023 and it has since risen to €218 per kilogram. Nicotine pouches have a very low legal limit of 4mg per pouch, making them virtually useless for smokers who want to switch.

Latvia banned the sale of energy drinks to people aged under 18 in June 2016. There are also restrictions on energy drink advertising (it is banned in schools, on children’s television, on public buildings and it cannot be associated with sport). Advertisements must carry a warning about the supposed risks of drinking them. Energy drinks must be displayed separately from other food items in shops.

Sweetened soft drinks, including those with zero calories, are taxed at €0.074 per litre.