Is French Spoken in Latvia?

Languages spoken in Latvia

Latvia is a multilingual country with a complex linguistic history, shaped in part by the Soviet era. Three languages dominate the landscape:

Latvian belongs to the Balto-Slavic language family. It's one of the oldest living languages in Europe, alongside Lithuanian. For a French speaker, it's nearly unintelligible without dedicated study. But rest assured: in business, you'll almost never need it.

English, the real language of business in Riga

In Riga, English is the lingua franca of the professional world. According to the EF English Proficiency Index, Latvia regularly ranks in Europe's top 15 for English proficiency, ahead of France and Spain. Young graduates and professionals in IT, finance, and consulting typically speak fluent English.

• The commercial register portal (ur.gov.lv) has an English-language interface
• The tax authority (SRS) publishes its guides for foreign companies in English
• Banks and fintechs (Wise, Paysera, SEB, Swedbank) offer their services in English
• The vast majority of accountants and business lawyers in Riga work in English

In practice, an entrepreneur who speaks English will face no language barrier in forming and managing their SIA day to day.

French in Latvia: a limited presence

French is a very minor language in Latvia. The number of French speakers in the country is estimated at around 1,500 to 2,500, some of whom are French or Belgian expats working at European institutions, the French embassy, or French companies established locally.

The Alliance française de Riga is active and offers classes, cultural events, and a network of French-speaking expats. It's a good point of contact if you're planning regular trips or a partial move to Riga. But for your administrative and legal dealings, don't expect French from your Latvian counterparts, unless you use a specialised service provider.

Do you need to speak Latvian to form and run an SIA?

The answer is clearly no, for the vast majority of operations. Here's the reality:

• The SIA's articles of association must be drafted in Latvian, but that's your formation agent's job — they provide you with a bilingual Latvian/French version
• Tax and accounting filings are handled by your Latvian accountant, you don't need to understand them line by line
• Correspondence with the register can be conducted in English for non-resident foreigners
• Your commercial contracts with international clients can be drafted in any language

The only time the language barrier can be a real problem is if you try to manage your SIA entirely alone, without an intermediary. That's precisely why forming your SIA with local support is strongly recommended.

French-speaking support: a decisive advantage

Understanding the subtleties of Latvian taxation, filing obligations, accounting rules, and the workings of tax treaties requires much more than a simple translation. It takes expertise that navigates between two legal and tax systems.

That's precisely the added value of Société Lettonie: a team that masters both Latvian law and the specific concerns of French-speaking entrepreneurs — foreign-holding declarations, dividend taxation, permanent-establishment risk, home-country social contributions. All of it explained and handled entirely in French, without you ever having to decipher a single document in Latvian.

To explore exactly what our service includes, see our page on forming an SIA in Latvia.

"In Latvia, not speaking Latvian is no obstacle to forming and running your company. A good French-speaking partner in Riga removes every administrative barrier and lets you focus on your business."