Latvian salaries grow faster than trams in curves: statisticians confirm miracle

The Central Statistical Bureau proudly announced that the average gross salary in Latvia has increased by 7.7%, reaching cosmic heights of 1800 euros in the private sector. In Riga, of course, everyone is already celebrating this sensational news with champagne and caviar, but in Liepāja people look at these numbers like a fantasy movie.

"No, well where are those 1800 of mine? I work as a cloud counter in Karosta, but my salary is still the same as ten years ago," says local expert Jānis, who is standing in line at Liepāja's central market for discounted potatoes. "Maybe that median is hidden somewhere between Liepāja port and Grobiņa?"

Most interesting is that in other service sectors, salaries have increased by 18.9%. This category also includes hairdressing services, so now apparently a haircut will cost more than monthly utility bills. Liepāja residents are already starting to learn to cut hair themselves, using old rock music album covers as mirrors.

But the most ridiculous thing is that in Riga the average salary is 1990 euros, but in Latgale - only 1302 euros. Liepāja, as always, remains somewhere in the middle, just like our tram between two stops. "We're like Switzerland between Germany and Italy, just with less money and more sand," philosophically concludes local café owner Baiba, calculating whether she can afford to raise coffee prices to 2.50 euros.