This year, Latvia will participate in the Household Finance and Consumption Survey of the euro area countries organised by the European Central Bank (ECB) for the third time.
The significance of the survey is confirmed by its wide participation. Although the survey is only mandatory for the euro area member states, in the previous survey wave of 2017 they were joined by Hungary, Poland and Croatia. Overall, about 91 thousand households were interviewed across the European Union (EU).
In Latvia, the survey will be conducted by Latvijas Banka in cooperation with the Central Statistical Bureau of Latvia (CSB). About 3200 randomly selected households will receive a letter from Latvijas Banka and CSB inviting them to participate in the survey. Later, the households will be contacted directly by an interviewer of the CSB to agree a suitable time and place for the interview. The CSB interviewers intend to hold interviews by phone or face-to-face from 7 August to 1 December 2020. After that, the survey data will be processed and compiled for the transmission to the ECB.
Latvijas Banka is encouraging the sampled households to participate in the survey. Each respondent's contribution to the survey is highly significant, as the random sampling method means that each of the sampled households represents many similar households. Moreover, the sample has been composed so that to ensure an adequate representation of all regions of Latvia.
The survey questions can be divided into two groups: questions about the household as a whole and questions about individual household members who are at least 16 years old at the time of the survey. The household as a whole will be asked questions about its main dwelling, other real assets owned, credit liabilities, commercial activities, valuable gifts, overall consumption and savings. Questions relating to individual members of the household cover demographic data and information on the current employment, future pension entitlements and income of household members.
The survey data are used to study the economic behaviour of households and analyse the impact of macroeconomic and policy decisions on households. For instance, the factors determining household borrowing, accumulation of savings, risk appetite and commercial activities will be analysed. The data obtained in the previous survey waves were also used, for example, by Latvijas Banka economists when analysing the problem of income inequality in Latvia.
Particular attention is paid to ensuring the confidentiality and protection of personal data. Fair and lawful processing of personal data, solely for the defined purpose and to the extent necessary, will be ensured in compliance with the relevant Latvian and EU legislation. After the interviews, the replies of the households will be anonymised, so as to strip them from all information about the respondents' names, surnames, telephone numbers and the households' addresses. Additional anonymisation of individual datasets will also be performed.
The compiled data from the previous household survey waves in Latvia are available on Latvijas Banka's website under the section "Statistics". Furthermore, the results of the euro area countries, including Latvia, are published on the European Central Bank's website.
For questions or clarifications, please do not hesitate to call Latvijas Banka on +371 67022300. More information for mass media is available via e-mail
