Regional development and private consumption structure in Latvia

The matter of the territories' facilitation development in Latvia's regional economics is significant under the EU conditions. In order to compare the regional economic development level it is suggested to use the relation between consumer income growth and changes in expenditures on food and non-alcoholic beverages. The average income level of inhabitants in Riga region is higher than in other Latvian regions, which consequently demonstrates lower proportion of food expenditure in private consumption structure. The results of the analysis of covariance demonstrate that, first, Latvian regional level of economic development is significantly different from Latvia's average development level and, second, there is still a gap among living conditions in Latvia's regions. (C) 2015 The Authors. Published by Elsevier B.V.