Last year, Latvia’s population went down by 11 100 people or 0.6%, which is the biggest drop in population numbers among all European Union (EU) member states, according to the latest data from the Central Statistical Bureau of Latvia (CSP).
The population decreased last year in seven European Union (EU) Member States. Poland, Greece, Hungary, Slovakia, Bulgaria and Italy had a population reduction of less than 0.5% in 2023.
The biggest increase, however, was observed in Malta (+3.9%), Luxembourg (+1.7%), Ireland and Cyprus (+1.4% in both).
In recent years the Latvian population went down mainly due to a negative natural population growth, the number of deaths exceeding the number of births, CSP explains. Although there was a positive net migration in 2023, negative natural growth (-0.7%) led to population decline again.
The number of births per 1 000 inhabitants in Latvia is also decreasing faster than the EU average. Last year, there were 7.7 births per 1 000 inhabitants in Latvia, while in the EU there were 8.2.
Even in 2021, the number of births per 1 000 inhabitants in Latvia was equal to the EU average, but it continues to decrease every year. In the last decade, the highest Latvian rate was in 2016, when the number of births increased and was the fourth best among the EU member states.
In 2023, a total of 14 490 children were born in Latvia, which is 1 464 or 9.2% fewer than the year before. This is the lowest rate in the last hundred years, CSP notes.
Generational change is characterized by a cumulative birth rate. In 2016, it increased to 1.74 in Latvia, reaching the highest level since 1992. However, since 2017, the birth rate has decreased and in 2023 was 1.36. The preferred number of children for normal generation replacement is 2.1 to 2.2. In the EU as a whole, the cumulative birth rate in 2022 was 1.46.
In 2023, the number of deaths was 2 700 or 8.8% less than a year earlier and 19% less compared to the high mortality rate in 2021. At the same time, there were 14.9 deaths per 1,000 inhabitants in Latvia last year. This is the second highest number in the EU after Bulgaria, with 15.7 deaths per 1 000 inhabitants. Meanwhile, the average number of deaths in the EU was 10.8 per 1 000 inhabitants. In Latvia, this indicator has been one of the highest in the EU for a long time, CSP noted.
According to CSP, the population in Latvia is increasing as a result of migration. For the second year in a row, the largest number of arrivals came from Ukraine. Last year it was 25.1% or one in four of all immigrants, but in 2022 it was 63.6%.
Compared to other EU countries, the increase in population as a result of migration in Latvia was relatively small. The highest migration per 1,000 inhabitants was in Malta (37.9), followed by Portugal (14.7) and Luxembourg (14). By contrast, it was lowest in Poland (0.1), followed by Slovakia (0.3) and Latvia (1.3). On average in the EU, the figure was 6.3.
43.7% of all arrivals were also 8 200 re-migrants – Latvian citizens and non-citizens, as well as residents whose nationality is different, but the country of birth is Latvia. The number of re-migrants has decreased slightly last year.
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Source link : https://bnn-news.com/latvias-population-numbers-going-down-more-rapidly-than-in-other-eu-countries-261226
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Publish date : 2024-10-02 13:26:47
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