Demographics ofLatvia
Latviapopulation pyramid in 2020
Population	1,861,900 (1 June 2024)[1]
Growth rate	−1.1% (2023)[2]
Birth rate	8.5 births/1,000 population (2022)[3]
Death rate	16.4 deaths/1,000 population (2022)[4]
Life expectancy	76.1 years (2023)[5]
• male	71.7 years (2023)[6]
• female	80.2 years (2023)[7]
Fertility rate	1.6 children born/woman (2023)[8]
Infant mortality rate	2.8 deaths/1,000 live births (2023)[9]
Net migration rate	11.7 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2022)[10]
Sex ratio
Total	0.86 male(s)/female (2022)[11]
At birth	1.06 male(s)/female (2022)[12]
Under 15	1.06 male(s)/female (2022)[13]
15–64 years	0.97 male(s)/female (2022)[14]
65 and over	0.50 male(s)/female (2022)[15]
Nationality
Nationality	noun: Latvian(s)adjective: Latvian
Major ethnic	Latvians (62,4%) (2023)[16]
Minor ethnic	Russians (23.7%),Belarusians (3.0%),Ukrainians (3.0%) (2023)[17]
Language
Official	Latvian
Spoken	Latvian (62.0%),Russian (34.6%) (2022)[18]

As of 1 May 2024,Latvia had a total population of 1,862,700.^[19]Demographic features of thepopulation of the historical territory ofLatvia includepopulation density,ethnic background, education level, health of the populace, economic status,religious affiliations and other aspects of the population.

Latvia was settled by Baltic tribes some three millennia ago. The territories along the eastern Baltic first came under foreign domination at the beginning of the 13th century, with the formal establishment of Riga in 1201 under the GermanTeutonic Knights.

Latvia, in whole or in part, remained under foreign rule for the next eight centuries, finding itself at the crossroads of all the regional superpowers of their day, includingDenmark (the Danes held on lands around theGulf of Riga),Sweden, andRussia, with southern (Courland) Latvia being at one time a vassal to Poland-Lithuania as well as Latgale falling directly under Poland-Lithuania rule. Through all this time, Latvia remained largely under Baltic German hegemony, with Baltic Germans comprising the largest land-owners, a situation which did not change until Latvia's independence.

Historically, Latvia has had significantGerman,Russian,Jewish,Polish,Belarusian andLithuanian minorities. The majority (roughly two thirds) of Latvians, under Swedish influences, adopted Lutheranism, while the minority (the remaining third) of Latvians under Poland-Lithuania, Latgale in particular, retained Catholicism.Aglona, in Latgale, has been the site of annual Catholic pilgrimage for centuries, even through to today. During theSecond World War the Jewish population was largely decimated byNazi Germany as part of theholocaust.

Recently^[when?] introduced immigration law in Latvia provides framework for immigration through investment in various financial areas or real estate. In 2012, solely 2,435^[20] applications for residence permit by investment in real estate were received by Office of Citizenship and Migration Affairs. The main immigrant countries areRussia,Belarus,Ukraine andLithuania (Lithuania is in theEuropean Union, thus no investment is needed). Moreover, Latvia receives residence permit applications from people of nationalities such asAfghans,Chinese,Libyans and people from various other distant countries.

Over 130,000 persons have been naturalized as Latvian citizens since 1995 and 182,375 persons, as of 2022, live in Latvia with non-citizen's passports. Large numbers of Russians, as well as some Ukrainians andBelarusians remained in Latvia after the fall of the Soviet Union.

According to the provisional results of the Population and Housing Census 2011, the total population of Latvia on 1 March 2011 was 2,067,887. Since the previous census in 2000 the country's population decreased by 309,000 or 13%.^[24] Based on the Population and Housing Census 2021, the total population of Latvia on 1 January 2021 was 1,893,223. Since the previous census in 2011 the country's population decreased by 174,664 or 8.5%. The proportion of ethnic Latvians increased to 62.7% of the population.^[25]Livonians are the other indigenous ethnic group, with about 250 of them remaining.^[26]Latgalians are a distinctive subgroup of Latvians inhabiting or coming fromEastern Latvia.

According to rankings provided by the United States Census Bureau—International Data Base (IDB)—Country Rankings, Latvia is estimated to have a population of 1,249,812 in the year 2050.^[27]

^[28][29]

Source: Central Statistical Bureau of Latvia^[30]

Period	Live births	Deaths	Natural increase
January—September 2024	9,975	19,777	−9,802
January—September 2025	8,883	19,177	−10,294
Difference	−1,092 (−10.95%)	−600 (−3.03%)	–492
Source:[31]

Theaccessibility of this table is in question. The specific issue is:screen readers cannot read content that is hidden. Relevant discussion may be found on thetalk page.(October 2024)

Illegalimmigration in Latvia has traditionally been from neighboring countries but now migrants also come from other areas such as Latin America, Southeast Asia and Africa.^[33] The Latvian government have sought to work with Russia to stem the problem.^[34] In 2009 theUS State Department criticized Latvia for its treatment of illegal immigrants.^[35]

For animmigrant not to become an illegal resident, apermit is required for a foreign national or astateless person wishing to reside in theRepublic of Latvia for more than 90 days within a 6-month period,^[36] thus if the person does not acquire himself a residence permit, he will be considered an illegal immigrant.

Largest groups of foreign citizens

Rank	Nationality	Population (2019)[37]
1	Russia	42,243
2	Lithuania	2,790
3	Ukraine	2,413
4	Belarus	1,630
5	Estonia	611
6	Germany	304
7	Israel	201
8	Armenia	188
9	Poland	176
10	United States	171
11	Kazakhstan	169
12	United Kingdom	151
13	Moldova	134
14	China	128
15	Azerbaijan	118
16	Uzbekistan	115
17	Denmark	96
18	Georgia	88
19	Sweden	86
20	Italy	82

Latvia's indigenous population has been ravaged numerous times throughout history. The earliest such event occurred during the conquest of Latvia byPeter the Great in theGreat Northern War withSweden.

In 1897, the first official census in this area indicated that Latvians formed 68.3% of the total population of 1.93 million; Russians accounted for 7.9%, Jews for 7.4%, Germans for 6.2%, and Poles for 3.4%. The remainder were Lithuanians, Estonians, Romani, and various other nationalities.

The demographics shifted greatly in the 20th century due to the world wars, the expulsion of theBaltic Germans, theHolocaust, andoccupation by theSoviet Union. Today, only the Russian minority, which has tripled in numbers since 1935, remains important. The share of ethnic Latvians fell from 75% (1,472,612) in 1935 to 52% (1,387,757) in 1989, after human loss in World War II and human deportation and other repressive measures.

• 
  Ethnic composition of Latvia by parishes in 2024
• 
  Distribution of Russians, Belarusians and Ukrainians in 2011
• 
  Number of ethnic Latvians and Russians 1925-2009
• 
  Number of smaller ethnic minorities 1925-2009

• official:Latvian^[46]
• considered indigenous in some legislation:Livonian,Latgalian^[46]
• other languages registered as main language spoken at home by at least 500 speakers in 2011 census (in declining order):Russian,Belarusian,Ukrainian,Lithuanian,Polish,Romani,Tatar,Yiddish andHebrew,Estonian,German^[45]
• other languages widely spoken:English (46%)^[47]
• Latvian Sign Language (legally recognised and supported)^[46] andRussian Sign Language^[48]

In the 2011census, 1,164,894 persons in Latvia reported Latvian as their main language spoken at home; 698,757 respondents listed Russian as their main language spoken at home,^[45] representing 37.2% of the total population, whereas Latvian was recorded as the main language spoken at home for 62.1%.^[49] Latvian was spoken as a second language by 20.8% of the population, and 43.7% spoke Russian as a second language.^[50] In total, 71% of ethnic Latvians said they could speak Russian, and 52% of Russians could speak Latvian in the 2000 census.^[51]

In August 2019, the Central Statistical Bureau published new data indicating that Latvian was the native language of 60.8% of Latvia's population per 1 January 2018, a 2.6% increase compared to the 2000 census. 62.2% of the population was 'ethnically Latvian'. The percentage of native Latvian speakers increased in allstatistical regions, especially in the Rīga capital region and Pierīga region around it (4.6%). The number of native Russian speakers dropped in all regions; in Latgale, the number of native Russian speakers also dropped, although their percentage remained the same at 55.5%, the highest of the country. Compared to the 2011 census, the share of people speaking Latvian at home rose by 1.9%, while the number of Russian home speakers dropped by 2.6%. 90.7% of ethnic Russians indicated they spoke Russian at home, while 8.5% of them indicated they spoke Latvian at home. Inter-linguistic marriage was an important factor why, for example, some non-native Latvian speakers who married native Latvian speakers switched to speaking Latvian at home. The percentage of Russian home speakers gradually increased with age from 30.0% amongst 0–4-year-olds to 44.2% amongst 55–64-year-olds, while Latvian home speakers gradually decreased with age from 69.2% amongst 0–4-year-olds to 55.0% amongst 55–64-year-olds, indicating that children in Latvia are increasingly being raised and educated in Latvian.^[52]

The largest religion in Latvia isChristianity (79%),^[53] though only about 7% of the population attends religious services regularly.^[54] The largest groups as of 2011^[update] were:

• Evangelical Lutheran Church of Latvia – 700,000^[53]
• Roman Catholic – 500,000^[53]
• Russian Orthodox – 400,000^[53]

In theEurobarometer Poll 2010, 38% of Latvian citizens responded that "they believe there is a God", while 48% answered that "they believe there is some sort of spirit or life force" and 11% stated that "they do not believe there is any sort of spirit, God, or life force".

Lutheranism was more prominent before the Soviet occupation, when it was a majority religion of ~60% due to strong historical links with theNordic countries and influence of theHansa, andGermany in general. Since then, Lutheranism has declined to a slightly greater extent than Roman Catholicism in all threeBaltic states. The Evangelical Lutheran Church, with an estimated 600,000 members in 1956, was affected most adversely. An internal document of 18 March 1987, near the end of communist rule, spoke of an active membership that had shrunk to only 25,000 in Latvia, but the faith has since experienced a revival.^[55] Moreover, modernEvangelical Protestant denominations are spreading worldwide, including Latvia. The country's Orthodox Christians belong to theLatvian Orthodox Church, a semi-autonomous body within theRussian Orthodox Church. In 2011, there were 416Jews and 319Muslims living in Latvia.^[53]

There are more than 600 Latvianneopagans,Dievturi, whose religion is based onLatvian mythology.^[56] About 21% of the total population is not affiliated with a specific religion.^[53]

Latvia is one of the most depopulating countries in the world, losing about 20,000 people every year. Between 1990 and 2024, Latvia's population decreased by 780,000 people, from 2.66 million to 1.88 million, or 30%, and continues to decline. Over the next thirty years Latvia will lose another 23.5% as a result of continued depopulation.^[57]

According toOECD estimates, the causes of depopulation are very high emigration,^[58] especially of national minorities, high consumption of alcohol^[59] and tobacco, low quality of health care and their concentration in large cities,^[60] and demographic transition.^[61]

By 2045, Latvia's population is projected to be 1.5 million, and by 2060 it is expected to be smaller thanEstonia's population. By 2100, Latvia's population is expected to fall to just 1.16 million.^[62][63]

• Aging of Europe
• List of cities in the Baltic states by population

Wikimedia Commons has media related toDemographics of Latvia.

• Naturalization Board of the Republic of Latvia: Figures and facts
• Office of Citizenship and Migration Affairs: StatisticsArchived 17 July 2011 at theWayback Machine

• Demographics of Latvia
• Society of Latvia

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