The exodus of the population from Latvia is over. There is no one else to leave, now we will slowly die out
According to the Central Statistical Bureau's just-released annual data collection "Statistical Yearbook of Latvia 2021", the balance of international migration of Latvia's population is slowly approaching zero.
In 2019, the long-term international migration balance was still negative, but compared to 2015 it decreased from minus 10 thousand to minus 3.4 thousand people per year, while in 2020 the long-term international migration balance was already only minus 3.2 thousand people per year. This most likely means that in the future, Latvia's population decline will be determined mainly by the excess of mortality over fertility. However, according to information compiled by the CSB, Latvia's fertility rate did not improve after 2019, while mortality rates in 2020 and 2021 worsened significantly (see figure). Consequently, in 2020, natural increase reduced Latvia's population by 11.3 thousand. In the last two years, the impact of long-term international migration on population decline has become increasingly less important and in 2020 it accounted for just over a fifth of the annual population decline.
The Yearbook includes various thematic sections on Latvia's territory, natural resources, environment and weather; economy and finance; entrepreneurship; population; labor market; health; education and culture; social processes; industry, construction and trade; transport and tourism; foreign trade in goods; agriculture; energy; science, information and communication technologies; and Latvia's social and economic performance compared to other countries.
This year's edition includes many new thematic maps - including maps on the registered incidence of COVID-19, population re-emigration since 2010, voter turnout in municipal elections, annual average air temperature, precipitation by 1991-2020 norm, etc. Illustrations related to Covid-19 statistics are also included, e.g., the chart "Number of deaths with confirmed Covid-19 infection by age; 2020-2021 (Latvian Statistical Yearbook, 2021-41)", etc.
The Yearbook continues many of the previous themes by showing social, demographic and economic processes, e.g., the map on the share of non-citizens (see figure) in Latvian municipalities, etc.
The Statistical Yearbook of Latvia is available in digital format free of charge on the official statistics portal under "Publications".
The thematic maps published in the Yearbook are based on the administrative division in force at the beginning of this year, but next year the maps will already show the new administrative-territorial division, which came into force on July 1, 2021. Both the new and the old administrative division maps are published in the Yearbook.
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