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Riga – High-Speed Gateway to the Baltic States

Riga serves as the primary interconnection hub for the Baltic region, providing a stable, carrier-neutral environment for enterprises targeting Northern and Eastern Europe. Its unique combination of high renewable energy penetration and business-friendly tax laws ensures long-term operational sustainability and capital efficiency. For companies requiring a low-latency bridge between the Nordics and the Baltics, this market is a top-tier choice.

Riga: At A Glance

FactorRating / DataNotes
Global Connectivity GradeAHigh reliability with direct links across Northern Europe.
Direct Cloud On-Ramps0 – as of December 2025Nearest hub is Stockholm via sub-10ms fiber extensions.
Power CostUS$0.09/kWh – as of December 202569% renewable mix (hydro, biomass, wind).
Disaster RiskLow (2.6/10) – as of December 2025Geographically stable with very low seismic risk.
Tax IncentivesYesIncentives via SEZs and a distributed profit tax model.
Sales Tax21% VAT – as of December 2025Standard rate for telecommunications services.

Network & Connectivity Ecosystem

Riga operates as a mature interconnection point with a sturdy fiber footprint and a neutral provider landscape.

Carrier Density & Carrier Neutrality: Carrier count: over 25. As of December 2025, the market supports 10 data centers and 7 primary providers, ensuring a competitive environment for transit and specialized fiber routing. The carrier-neutral nature of the major facilities prevents vendor lock-in and keeps pricing lean.

Direct Cloud On-Ramps: Over 0, enabling access to 0 cloud regions. While local native on-ramps are absent as of December 2025, enterprises reach AWS, Microsoft Azure, and Google Cloud (GCP) via private wave extensions or PNI to Stockholm. This configuration typically yields sub-10ms round-trip times.

Internet Exchange Points (IXPs): The primary exchanges, including LIX and SMILE, facilitate local peering to keep regional traffic efficient and reduce reliance on international transit as of December 2025.

Bare Metal: High-performance bare metal is readily available in the market from providers such as Hivelocity, catering to edge computing and low-latency workloads that require dedicated hardware.

Power Analysis

Latvia’s energy sector is characterized by a high commitment to sustainability and a reliable national grid.

Average Cost Of Power: Industrial electricity is priced at approximately US$0.09/kWh as of December 2025. This competitive pricing, combined with a power mix that is nearly 70% renewable, makes Riga a sustainable choice for power-intensive colocation requirements and helps firms meet green energy mandates.

Power Grid Reliability: The local grid is well-engineered and utilizes multi-substation support in major industrial and telecommunications zones. This redundancy ensures the consistent uptime required for high-availability data center clusters.

Market Access, Business & Tax Climate

The business environment in Riga is structured to support foreign investment and regional digital expansion.

Proximity To Key Business Districts: Data centers are centrally located near the financial core and the Zakusala telecommunications hub. This proximity is vital for low-latency financial services, media distribution, and government sectors.

Regional Market Reach: A presence in Riga provides direct access to the three Baltic nations and offers efficient transit into the Nordic and CIS markets, serving a total population of millions.

Tax Advantage For Data Centers: Latvia utilizes a corporate tax regime where profit is taxed only upon distribution. This allows companies to reinvest capital into hardware and infrastructure without immediate tax penalties, significantly lowering the total cost of ownership for long-term deployments.

Natural Disaster Risk

Riga is a geographically stable location with an overall INFORM Risk score of Low (2.6/10) as of December 2025.

River Flood (6.6): This is the most significant localized risk, primarily affecting areas near the Daugava River. Top-tier data centers are typically situated on higher ground to mitigate this exposure.

Coastal Flood (3.6): A moderate regional consideration due to Baltic Sea proximity, though it remains an indirect risk for most inland infrastructure as of December 2025.

Drought (2.6): A minor risk with limited impact on modern data center cooling operations.

Earthquake (0.1): Seismic activity is effectively non-existent in this region, making it an ideal location for disaster recovery sites.

Other natural hazards are minor or not listed for this market.

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