The mainreligion traditionally practiced inLatvia isChristianity. As of 2019[update], it is the largest religion (68.84%),[1] though only about 7% of the population attends religious services regularly.[2]
Lutheranism is the mainChristian denomination among ethnicLatvians due to strong historical links with theNordic countries andNorthern Germany (seeHanseatic League), whileCatholicism is most prevalent in eastern Latvia (Latgale), mostly due toPolish influence. TheLatvian Orthodox Church is the third largest Christian church in Latvia, with adherents primarily among theRussian-speaking minority.
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Latvia was one of the last regions in Europe to beChristianized. The inhabitants of the region that is now Latvia once practicedFinnic paganism andBaltic mythology, but this practice gradually diminished through the course of the centuries. In the 12th to 13th centuries Latvia first became part of theCatholic Church, as the Christian kings ofDenmark,Sweden and the North GermanLivonian andTeutonic military orders fought for influence in the region in what later became known as theNorthern Crusades.
Despite the Christianization, the local populace in the countryside maintained their pagan belief system for several centuries, with pockets of paganism surviving in Latvia up until the 17th century. Along with the rest of the traditional holidays, Christmas (Ziemassvētki) and Easter (Lieldienas) in Latvia still largely retain their pagan roots.
During theProtestant Reformation the teachings ofLutheranism fromNorthern Germany andScandinavia completely changed the religious landscape in the country, and eventually only eastern Latvia (Latgale) remained Catholic, due to the influence of thePolish–Lithuanian Commonwealth. BeforeWorld War II, 2/3 of Latvia wasProtestant; overwhelminglyLutheran with scarceCalvinist population and individual cases of adhering to other Protestant confessions.[3][4][5]
Because of thestate policy of atheism during the Soviet era and the general European trend of secularization, religiosity declined drastically, and today a growing percentage of Latvians claimsnot to follow any religion, with lowchurch attendance.
According to the Annual Report of Religious Organizations and their Activities published by the Ministry of Justice (MOJ), based on 2022 data, the largest religious groups are Lutheran (37 percent), Roman Catholic (19 percent), and Latvian Orthodox Christian (13 percent);[6] almost 30 percent of the country is unaffiliated to any religious group.
In a survey from 2015, theISSP found that 62.6% of the Latvian population declared to belong to a Christian denomination, divided in 19.7%Russian Orthodox, 18.5%Roman Catholic, 17.8%Protestant, 6.1%Old Believers and 0.5% belonged to smaller Christian denominations. A further 36.7% declared to haveNo Religion and 0.7% declared to belong to other religions.[7]
In the same year theEurobarometer survey by theEuropean Commission found different results, with 76.7% of the Latvians regarding themselves as Christians, divided in 26.2%Catholics 24.0%Eastern Orthodox, 16.6%Protestants, and 9.9% other Christians. The unaffiliated people made up the 22.0% of the respondents and were divided inAtheists with 4.7% andAgnostics with 17.3%.[8]
The Latvian polling agency SKDS has also gathered information regarding the religious affiliation of Latvia over the years. In 2018, 26% of the population was Orthodox, 20% identified as Catholic while 17% was Lutheran, and 3% were Old Believers. 14% believed in God without being affiliated to any religion, while 15% declared themselves as atheist. A further 3% belonged to other Christian sects or religions.[9][10]
| Religious affiliation (%) | 1860 | 1897 | 1935[11] | 2000[12] | 2001[13] | 2003[12] | 2005[12] | 2006[12] | 2007[12] | 2008[12] | 2009[12] | 2010[12] | 2011[12] | 2014[14][9] | 2016[9] | 2018[9] |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Orthodox | 8.9 | 8.6 | 8.9 | 22 | 18.9 | 25 | 24 | 26 | 24 | 24 | 23 | 23 | 25 | 25.6 | 25 | 26 |
| Catholic | 18.4 | 20.2 | 24.5 | 19 | 22.3 | 21 | 21 | 20 | 22 | 22 | 24 | 23 | 21 | 22.6 | 22 | 20 |
| Lutheran | 66.4 | 59.1 | 55.2 | 28 | 23.8 | 25 | 20 | 21 | 21 | 24 | 22 | 20 | 23 | 18.4 | 20 | 17 |
| Old Believer | 3.2 | 4.1 | 5.5 | 2.7 | 3 | 4 | 2 | 2 | 4 | 3 | 3 | 4 | 4 | 2 | 3 | |
| Judaism | 3.2 | 7.4 | 4.8 | |||||||||||||
| Other faiths / denominations | 0 | 0.6 | 1.2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 3 | 1 | 4 | 3 | 2 | 2 | 3 |
| Belief in God without religion | - | - | - | 10 | 12.8 | 9 | 11 | 10 | 10 | 10 | 10 | 11 | 9 | 9.7 | 10 | 14 |
| Atheist | - | - | - | 18 | 17.7 | 12 | 16 | 14 | 14 | 11 | 15 | 16 | 14 | 16.4 | 17 | 15 |
| Undecided | - | - | - | 3 | 2 | 3 | 3 | 6 | 4 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 3 |
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Religion in Latvia, SKDS surveys 2000-2018
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TheEvangelical Lutheran Church of Latvia has 708,773 members.[10] TheCatholic Church in Latvia has 430,000 members.[15] Historically, the west and central parts of the country have been predominantly Protestant, while the east – particularly theLatgale region – has been predominantly Catholic, although Catholics are now common in Riga and other cities due to migration from Latgale.[16] Historically, Lutherans were the majority, but Communist rule weakened Lutheranism much more than Catholicism, with the result that there are now only slightly more Lutherans than Catholics. TheLatvian Orthodox Church is then-semi-autonomous and has 400,000 members.[10] Orthodoxy predominates among theLatvian Russian population.
As of 2022[update], the population ofJews in Latvia was 4,000, although some estimates are double this;[17] there are 1,000Muslims in Latvia.[10] The neopagan Latvian ethnic religion isDievturība.
TheReformed Church in Latvia is a small Reformed denomination with two congregations inRiga.
As of 2011, the Justice Ministry had registered 1145 congregations.[10] This total included: Lutheran (294), Catholic (250), Orthodox (122), Baptist (94), Old Believer Orthodox (69), Pentecostal (52), Seventh-day Adventist (51), Evangelical (39), New Generation (18), Muslim (17), Jehovah's Witnesses (15), Jewish (13), Methodist (12), New Apostolic (11),Hare Krishna (11),Dievturi (10),Buddhist (4), Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (Mormons) (4), and 18 other congregations. In 2003, the Government also registered the Christian Scientists as a recognized religious congregation.
In 2022 Latvia passed a law removing all influence or power over the Orthodox Church from non Latvians, which would include the Patriarch of Moscow, making the Orthodox Church of Latvia completely independent.[18]
In 2011, churches in Latvia provided the following estimates of church membership to the Justice Ministry:[10]
| Adherents | Number |
|---|---|
| Lutherans | 708,773 |
| Catholics | 430,000 |
| Orthodox | 370,000 |
| Old Believer Orthodox | 34,517 |
| Baptists | 6,930 |
| Seventh-day Adventists | 4,046 |
| Pentecostals | 3,268 |
| Evangelicals | 3,171 |
| New Generation | 3,020 |
| New Apostolics | 1,268 |
| Latter-day Saints | 852 |
| Methodists | 751 |
| Dievturi | 663 |
| Augsburg Lutheran | 581 |
| Salvation Army | 462 |
| Jews | 416 |
| Muslims | 319 |
| German Lutheran | 308 |
| Jehovah's Witnesses | 290 |
| Old Apostolics | 287 |
| Buddhists | 155 |
| Reformed | 145 |
In 2023, the country was scored 4 out of 4 for religious freedom.[19]
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