Demographics of Latvia

thumb|Population of Latvia (in millions) from 1935 to 2022

As of 1 May 2024, Latvia had a total population of 1,862,700.

Demographic features of the population of the historical territory of Latvia include population density, ethnic background, education level, health of the populace, economic status, religious affiliations and other aspects of the population.

Currently Latvia's population is in significant decline, a trend that has persisted since 1990 due to low birth rates, high death rates, and significant emigration, leading to an aging population and one of the fastest depopulation rates globally.

History

thumb|Ethnic Composition of Latvia 1863–1935

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 German Teutonic 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, including Denmark (the Danes held on lands around the Gulf of Riga), Sweden, and Russia, 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 significant German, Russian, Jewish, Polish, Belarusian and Lithuanian 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 the Second World War the Jewish population was largely decimated by Nazi Germany as part of the holocaust.

Recently introduced immigration law in Latvia provides framework for immigration through investment in various financial areas or real estate. In 2012, solely 2,435 applications for residence permit by investment in real estate were received by Office of Citizenship and Migration Affairs. The main immigrant countries are Russia, Belarus, Ukraine and Lithuania (Lithuania is in the European Union, thus no investment is needed). Moreover, Latvia receives residence permit applications from people of nationalities such as Afghans, 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 and Belarusians 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%. 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. Livonians are the other indigenous ethnic group, with about 250 of them remaining. Latgalians are a distinctive subgroup of Latvians inhabiting or coming from Eastern 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.

Population

Age structure

thumb|400px|Approximate demographic evolution in Latvia, 1920–2011. NB. the amount of time between each year in the diagramme is not the same which gives a somewhat garbled image of the evolution.

! style="width:80pt;" |Census year

! style="width:80pt;" |Children

! style="width:80pt;" |Working age

! style="width:80pt;" |Pensioners

| 1897

| style="text-align:right;" | 41.0

| style="text-align:right;" | 52.8

| style="text-align:right;" | 6.2

| 1920

| style="text-align:right;" | 38.3

| style="text-align:right;" | 52.9

| style="text-align:right;" | 8.6

| 1935

| style="text-align:right;" | 30.4

| style="text-align:right;" | 60.3

| style="text-align:right;" | 9.2

| 1943

| style="text-align:right;" | 29.1

| style="text-align:right;" | 60.6

| style="text-align:right;" | 10.3

| 1959

| style="text-align:right;" | 30.0

| style="text-align:right;" | 63.2

| style="text-align:right;" | 6.8

| 1970

| style="text-align:right;" | 23.1

| style="text-align:right;" | 56.2

| style="text-align:right;" | 20.7

| 1979

| style="text-align:right;" | 21.8

| style="text-align:right;" | 58.3

| style="text-align:right;" | 19.9

| 1989

| style="text-align:right;" | 22.7

| style="text-align:right;" | 56.6

| style="text-align:right;" | 20.7

| 2000

| style="text-align:right;" | 18.0

| style="text-align:right;" | 58.9

| style="text-align:right;" | 23.1

| 2011

| style="text-align:right;" | 14.1

| style="text-align:right;" | 64.1

| style="text-align:right;" | 21.8

| 2021

| style="text-align:right;" | 16.1

| style="text-align:right;" | 61.9

| style="text-align:right;" | 22.1

Vital statistics

Source: Central Statistical Bureau of Latvia

Notable events in Latvian demographics:

1940-1945 – World War II
1991 – Dissolution of the Soviet Union

{| class="wikitable sortable sort-under sticky-header-multi" style="text-align:right;"

! style="width:40pt;" |

! style="width:70pt;" |Average population

! style="width:70pt;" |Live births

! style="width:70pt;" |Deaths

! style="width:70pt;" |Natural change

! style="width:70pt;" |Crude birth rate (per 1000)

! style="width:70pt;" |Crude death rate (per 1000)

! style="width:70pt;" |Natural change (per 1000)

! style="width:70pt;" |Crude migration change (per 1000)

! style="width:70pt;" |Total fertility rate

! style="width:70pt;" |Infant mortality rate (per 1000 births)

! style="width:70pt;" |Life expectancy at birth (males)

! style="width:70pt;" |Life expectancy at birth (females)

|1920

|1,727,000

|29,434

|33,891

| style="color: red" | −4,457

|17.0

|19.6

| style="color: red" | −2.5

| 73.7

| style="color: blue" |

|128.4

|1921

|1,850,000

|36,420

|25,331

|11,089

|19.7

|13.7

|5.9

| 11.9

| style="color: blue" |

|93.2

|1922

|1,883,000

|41,146

|27,553

|13,593

|21.9

|14.6

|7.2

| 6.6

| style="color: blue" |

|90.8

|1923

|1,909,000

|41,796

|26,080

| style="color: blue" |15,716

|21.9

|13.7

| −41.7

| style="color: blue"|8.2

| style="color: blue" |

|88.4

|1924

|1,845,000

|41,172

|28,399

|12,773

|style="color: blue" |22.3

|15.4

|6.9

| −0.4

| style="color: blue" |

|100.8

|50.7

|56.9

|1925

|1,857,000

|41,314

|27,683

|13,631

|22.3

|14.9

|7.3

| 0.2

| style="color: blue" |

|107.2

|1926

|1,871,000

|41,073

|27,557

|13,516

|22.0

|14.7

|7.2

| −0.8

| style="color: blue" |

|87.9

|1927

|1,883,000

|41,610

|28,941

|12,669

|22.1

|15.4

|6.7

| −0.3

| style="color: blue" |

|95.7

|1928

|1,895,000

|39,126

|27,299

|11,827

|20.7

|14.4

|6.2

| −3.6

| style="color: blue" |

|96.3

|1929

|1,900,000

|35,673

|28,512

|7,161

|18.8

|15.0

|3.7

| 1.6

| style="color: blue" |

|106.7

|1930

|1,910,000

|37,835

|27,110

|10,725

|19.8

|14.2

|5.6

| −0.4

| style="color: blue" |

|90.0

|1931

|1,920,000

|36,972

|26,891

|10,081

|19.3

|14.0

|5.2

| 0.5

| style="color: blue" |

|86.3

|1932

|1,931,000

|37,366

|26,342

|11,024

|19.4

|13.6

|5.7

| −1.6

| style="color: blue" |

|89.3

|1933

|1,939,000

|34,576

|26,319

|8,257

|17.8

|13.6

|4.2

| −0.1

| style="color: blue" |

|76.4

|1934

|1,947,000

|33,383

|27,065

|6,318

|17.2

|13.9

|3.2

| −0.1

| style="color: blue" |

|95.1

|55.1

|60.6

|1935

|1,953,000

|34,419

|27,660

|6,759

|17.6

|14.2

|3.4

| 0.7

| style="color: blue" |

|78.9

|55.0

|61.0

|1936

|1,961,000

|35,468

|27,646

|7,822

|18.1

|14.1

|3.9

| −0.3

| style="color: blue" |

|80.1

|1937

|1,968,000

|34,863

|28,083

|6,780

|17.7

|14.3

|3.4

| 1.7

| style="color: blue" |

|85.0

|1938

|1,978,000

|36,386

|26,703

|9,683

|18.4

|13.5

|4.9

| 6.2

| style="color: blue" |

|68.1

|1939

|2,000,000

|36,932||27,827||9,105

|18.5||13.9||4.6

| −34.6

| style="color: blue" |

|70.2

|1940

|1,940,000

|37,493||30,355||7,138

|19.3||15.7||3.6

| −99.0

| style="color: blue" |

|73.2

|1941

|1,755,000

|36,295||30,434||5,861

|20.7||17.3||3.4

| −6.2

| style="color: blue" |

|81.7

|1942

|1,750,000

|36,370||29,940||6,430

|20.7

|17.1

|3.6

| 2.1

| style="color: blue" |

|81.1

|1943

|1,760,000

|35,915||29,904||6,011

|20.4

|16.9

|3.5

| style="color: blue" |

|93.4

|1944

| || ||

| style="color: blue" | 2.30

|1945

|26,217||32,230|| style="color: red" |−6,013

| || ||

| style="color: blue" |

|111.1

|1946

| style="color: red"|1,553,577

|30,544||32,266|| style="color: red" |−1,722

|18.7||style="color: red" |19.7|| style="color: red" |−1.0

| 106.0

| style="color: blue" |

|93.9

|1947

|1,716,773

|34,832||32,435||2,397

|19.5||18.2||1.3

| 80.0

| style="color: blue" |

|108.7

|1948

|1,856,419

|35,402||26,500||8,902

|18.9||14.2||4.7

| 11.7

|79.3

|1949

|1,886,792

|35,671

|25,640

|10,031

|18.9

|13.6

|5.3

| −6.7

|83.3

|1950

|1,884,077

|33,137

|24,250

|8,887

|17.6

|12.9

|4.7

| −1.6

|70.0

|1951

|1,889,974

|32,764

|23,898

|8,866

|17.3

|12.6

|4.7

| −0.1

|69.6

|1952

|1,898,577

|32,278

|22,680

|9,598

|16.9

|11.9

|5.0

| 2.5

|52.9

|1953

|1,912,837

|30,986

|22,761

|8,225

|16.1

|11.8

|4.3

| 9.4

|46.8

|1954

|1,939,138

|33,202

|22,500

|10,702

|17.0

|11.5

|5.5

| 8.6

|45.9

|1955

|1,966,567

|32,968

|21,330

|11,638

|16.6

|10.8

|5.8

| 8.8

|42.0

|1956

|1,995,354

|32,590

| style="color: blue" |20,339

|12,251

|16.1

|10.1

|6.0

| 16.9

|33.9

|1957

|2,040,978

|33,714

|21,087

|12,627

|16.4

|10.3

|6.1

| 6.3

|32.3

|1958

|2,066,368

|35,068

|20,910

|14,158

|16.9

|10.1

|6.8

| −0.2

|29.5

|65.2

|72.4

|1959

|2,079,948

|35,028

|22,601

|12,427

|16.7

|10.8

|5.9

| 5.7

|30.8

|1960

|2,104,128

|35,468

|21,314

|14,154

|16.7

|10.0

|6.7

| 9.3

|1.99

|27.0

|1961

|2,137,830

|35,993

|21,759

|14,234

|16.7

|10.1

|6.6

| 7.3

|2.01

|24.1

|66.1

|73.5

|1962

|2,167,531

|35,061

|23,592

|11,469

|16.1

|10.8

|5.3

| 7.7

|1.91

|24.2

|1963

|2,195,640

|33,843

|22,703

|11,140

|15.3

|10.3

|5.0

| 8.9

|1.85

|25.9

|67.0

|74.0

|1964

|2,226,198

|33,053

|21,165

|11,888

|14.8

|style="color: blue"|9.4

|style="color: blue" |5.4

| 7.6

|1.79

|22.0

|1965

|2,255,048

|31,212

|22,780

|8,432

|13.8

|10.1

|3.7

| 5.9

|1.74

|18.9

|66.6

|74.4

|1966

|2,276,789

|31,974

|23,350

|8,624

|14.0

|10.2

|3.8

| 1.8

|1.76

|17.0

|1967

|2,289,645

|32,232

|24,362

|7,870

|14.0

|10.6

|3.4

| 6.7

|1.80

|17.3

|1968

|2,312,795

|32,693

|25,104

|7,589

|14.1

|10.8

|3.3

| 6.1

|1.83

|18.9

|1969

|2,334,443

|32,915

|26,229

|6,686

|14.0

|11.2

|2.8

| 4.7

|1.88

|17.7

|65.5

|74.2

|1970

|2,351,903

|34,333

|26,546

|7,787

|14.6

|11.3

|3.3

| 2.9

|2.01

|17.7

|66.0

|74.4

|1971

|2,366,424

|35,239

|26,275

|8,964

|14.8

|11.1

|3.7

| 4.7

|2.05

|15.9

|65.4

|74.6

|1972

|2,386,353

|35,007

|27,296

|7,711

|14.6

|11.4

|3.2

| 4.6

|2.03

|16.0

|65.0

|75.0

|1973

|2,404,995

|34,008

|28,139

|5,869

|14.1

|11.6

|2.5

| 6.5

|1.96

|15.8

|65.2

|74.7

|1974

|2,426,642

|34,920

|28,143

|6,777

|14.3

|11.5

|2.8

| 5.9

|1.99

|18.4

|1975

|2,447,730

|34,810

|30,042

|4,768

|14.2

|12.2

|2.0

| 4.9

|1.96

|20.3

|64.2

|74.3

|1976

|2,464,529

|34,644

|30,373

|4,271

|14.0

|12.3

|1.7

| 3.5

|1.93

|20.1

|64.4

|74.3

|1977

|2,477,449

|34,240

|30,869

|3,371

|13.8

|12.4

|1.4

| 4.8

|1.88

|18.3

|64.5

|74.2

|1978

|2,492,697

|34,258

|31,261

|2,997

|13.7

|12.5

|1.2

| 3.0

|1.86

|18.1

|63.7

|73.9

|1979

|2,503,145

|34,683

|32,162

|2,521

|13.8

|12.8

|1.0

| 1.2

|1.86

|18.3

|63.6

|73.9

|1980

|2,508,761

|35,534

|32,100

|3,434

|14.1

|12.8

|1.3

| 1.0

|1.88

|15.3

|63.6

|74.2

|1981

|2,514,640

|35,732

|32,090

|3,642

|14.2

|12.7

|1.5

| 2.3

|1.88

|16.0

|63.9

|74.4

|1982

|2,524,202

|37,477

|31,234

|6,243

|14.8

|12.3

|2.5

| 2.9

|1.97

|13.9

|64.0

|74.5

|1983

|2,537,958

|40,572

|32,330

|8,242

|15.9

|12.7

|3.2

| 3.1

| style="color: blue" |2.12

|15.9

|63.9

|74.5

|1984

|2,554,063

|40,847

|33,406

|7,441

|15.9

|13.0

|2.9

| 3.4

| style="color: blue" |2.14

|12.9

|64.4

|74.2

|1985

|2,570,030

|39,751

|34,166

|5,585

|15.4

|13.2

|2.2

| 4.7

|2.08

|13.0

|65.5

|74.5

|1986

|2,587,716

|41,960

|31,328

|10,632

|16.1

|12.0

|4.1

| 5.3

| style="color: blue" |2.21

|12.8

|66.3

|75.0

|1987

|2,612,068

| style="color: blue" |42,135

|32,150

|9,985

|16.0

|12.2

|3.8

| 7.3

| style="color: blue" |2.21

|11.3

|1988

|2,641,097

|41,275

|32,421

|8,854

|15.6

|12.2

|3.4

| 5.9

| style="color: blue" |2.16

|11.0

|66.3||75.1

|1989

|2,665,770

|38,922

|32,584

|6,338

|14.6

|12.2

|2.4

| −1.5

|2.04

|11.3

|65.3||75.2

|1990

| style="color: blue" |2,668,140

|37,918

|34,812

|3,106

|14.2

|13.1

|1.1

| −4.8

|2.00

|13.7

|64.2||74.6

|1991

| style="color:" |2,658,161

|34,633

|34,749

| style="color: red" | −116

|13.1

| style="color: red" |0.0

| −5.7

|1.86

|15.7

|63.8||74.8

|1992

| style="color:" |2,643,000

|31,569

|35,420

| style="color: red" | −3,851

|12.1

|13.5

| style="color: red" | −1.4

| −20.3

|1.74

|17.6

|63.3||74.8

|1993

| style="color:" |2,585,675

|26,759

|39,197

| style="color: red" | −12,438

|10.4

|15.3

| style="color: red" | −4.9

| −12.4

|1.52

|16.2

|61.6||73.8

|1994

| style="color:" |2,540,904

|24,256

| style="color: red"|41,757

| style="color: red" | −17,501

|9.6

|16.6

| style="color: red" | −7.0

| −8.9

|1.41

|15.7

|60.7||72.9

|1995

| style="color:" |2,500,580

|21,595

|38,931

| style="color: red" | −17,336

|8.7

|15.7

| style="color: red" | −7.0

| −5.4

|1.27

|18.8

|60.8||73.1

|1996

| style="color:" |2,469,531

|19,782

|34,320

| style="color: red" | −14,538

|8.1

|14.0

| style="color: red" | −5.9

| −4.1

|1.18

|15.9

|63.9||75.6

|1997

| style="color:" |2,444,912

|18,830

|33,533

| style="color: red" | −14,703

|7.7

|13.8

| style="color: red" | −6.1

| −3.8

|1.13

|15.3

|64.2||75.9

|1998

| style="color:" |2,420,789

|18,410

|34,200

| style="color: red" | −15,790

|7.6

|14.2

| style="color: red" | −6.6

| −2.3

| style="color: red" |1.12

|15.0

|64.1||75.5

|1999

| style="color:" |2,399,248

|19,396

|32,844

| style="color: red" | −13,448

|8.1

|13.7

| style="color: red" | −5.6

| −1.7

|1.18

|11.3

|64.9||76.2

|2000

| style="color:" |2,381,715

|20,302

|32,205

| style="color: red" | −11,903

|8.6

|13.6

| style="color: red" | −5.0

| −6.9

|1.25

|10.3

|64.6||75.8

|2001

| style="color:" |2,353,384

|19,726

|32,991

| style="color: red" | −13,265

|8.4

|14.1

| style="color: red" | −5.7

| −8.1

|1.22

|11.0

|64.2||75.5

|2002

| style="color:" |2,320,956

|20,127

|32,498

| style="color: red" | −12,371

|8.7

|14.1

| style="color: red" | −5.4

| −3.9

|1.25

|9.8

|64.4||75.9

|2003

| style="color:" |2,299,390

|21,151

|32,437

| style="color: red" | −11,286

|9.2

|14.2

| style="color: red" | −5.0

| −4.9

|1.32

|9.4

|65.4||75.7

|2004

| style="color:" |2,276,520

|20,551

|32,024

| style="color: red" | −11,473

|9.1

|14.2

| style="color: red" | −5.1

| −6.7

|1.29

|9.3

|65.5||76.1

|2005

| style="color:" |2,249,724

|21,879

|32,777

| style="color: red" | −10,898

|9.8

|14.6

| style="color: red" | −4.8

| −4.9

|1.39

|7.7

|64.9||76.3

|2006

| style="color:" |2,227,874

|22,871

|33,098

| style="color: red" | −10,227

|10.3

|14.9

| style="color: red" | −4.6

| −3.9

|1.46

|7.4

|65.0||76.1

|2007

| style="color:" |2,208,840

|23,958

|33,042

| style="color: red" | −9,084

|10.9

|15.0

| style="color: red" | −4.1

| −3.6

|1.54

|8.5

|65.3||76.2

|2008

| style="color:" |2,191,810

|24,397

|31,006

| style="color: red" | −6,609

|11.2

|14.2

| style="color: red" | −3.0

| −10.2

|1.58

|6.6

|66.5||77.4

|2009

| style="color:" |2,162,834

|22,044||29,897|| style="color: red" |−7,853

|10.3||14.0|| style="color: red" |−3.7

| −15.9

|1.46

|7.6

|67.5||77.6

|2010

| style="color:" |2,120,504

|19,781||30,040|| style="color: red" |−10,259

|9.4||14.3|| style="color: red" |−4.9

| −16.7

|1.36

|5.6

|67.9||77.9

|2011

| style="color:" |2,074,605

|18,825||28,540|| style="color: red" |−9,715

|9.1||13.9|| style="color: red" |−4.8

| −9.6

| 1.33

|6.6

|68.6||78.5

|2012

| style="color:" |2,044,813

|19,897||29,025|| style="color: red" |−9,128

|9.8||14.3|| style="color: red" |−4.5

| −5.8

| 1.44

|6.3

|65.9||78.7

|2013

| style="color:" |2,023,825

|20,596||28,691|| style="color: red" |−8,095

|10.2||14.3|| style="color: red" |−4.1

| −6.9

| 1.52

|4.4

|69.3||78.8

|2014

| style="color:" |2,001,468

|21,746||28,466|| style="color: red" |−6,720

|10.9||14.3|| style="color: red" |−3.4

| −4.3

| 1.65

|3.8

|69.1||79.3

|2015

| style="color:" |1,986,096

|21,979||28,478|| style="color: red" |−6,499

|11.1||14.4|| style="color: red" |−3.3

| −5.3

| 1.70

|4.1

|69.7||79.3

|2016

| style="color:" |1,968,957

|21,968||28,580|| style="color: red" |−6,612

|11.2||14.6|| style="color: red" |−3.4

| −6.2

| 1.74

|3.7

|69.8||79.4

|2017

| style="color:" |1,950,116

|20,828||28,757|| style="color: red" |−7,929

|10.7||14.8|| style="color: red" |−4.1

| −4.0

| 1.69

|4.1

|69.8||79.6

|2018

| style="color:" |1,934,379

|19,314||28,820|| style="color: red" |−9,506

|10.0||15.0|| style="color: red" |−5.0

| −2.4

|1.60

|3.2

|70.0||79.6

|2019

| style="color:" |1,919,968

|18,786||27,719|| style="color: red" |−8,933

|9.8||14.5|| style="color: red" |−4.7 ||−1.7

|1.61

|3.4

|70.8

|79.9

|2020

| style="color:" |1,907,675

|17,552||28,854|| style="color: red" |−11,302

|9.2||15.2|| style="color: red" |−5.9

| −1.7

|1.55

|3.5

|70.4

|79.5

|2021

| style="color:" |1,893,223

|17,420||34,600|| style="color: red" |−17,180

|9.2||18.4|| style="color: red" | −9.1

| −0.1

|1.57

|2.7

|68.2

|77.9

|2022

| style="color:" |1,875,757

| 15,954

|30,731

| style="color: red" | −14,777

|8.5||16.4|| style="color: red" | −7.9

| 11.8

|1.47

|69.4

|79.3

| 2023

| 1,895,200

| 14,490

| 28,031

| style="color: red" | −13,541

| 7.7 || 14.9 || style="color: red" | −7.2

| 2.3

|1.34

|70.4

|80.4

| 2024

| style="color:" |1,878,600

| 12,887

| 26,661

| style="color: red" | –13,774

| 6.9 || 14.3 || style="color: red" | –7.4

| –3.0

|1.23

| 71.3

| 81.1

| 2025

| style="color:" |1,860,600

| style="color: red"| 11,637

| 25,673

| style="color: red"| –14,036

| style="color: red" | 6.3 || 14.0 || style="color: red" | –7.7

|1.16

| 2026

| style="color:" |1,823,500

Current vital statistics

{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center;"

! Period

! Live births

! Deaths

! Natural increase

! January–March 2025

| 2,756

| 6,876

| −4,120

! January–March 2026

| 2,757

| 7,302

| −4,545

! Difference

| +1 (+0.04%)

| +426 (+6.2%)

| –425

! colspan="4" style="text-align: center;" | Source:

Total fertility rates by planning regions and the capital city

{| class="wikitable sortable"

|+ 2024

!Regions

!TFR

| Vidzeme Planning Region

|1.37

| Zemgale Planning Region

|1.34

| Kurzeme Planning Region

|1.32

| Latgale Planning Region

|1.25

|1.23

| Riga Planning Region

|1.13

|0.97

Structure of the population

{| class="wikitable"

! width="80pt"|Age group

! width="80pt"|Male

! width="80pt"|Female

! width="80pt"|Total

! width="80pt"|%

| align="right" | Total

| align="right" | 875 225

| align="right" | 1 017 998

| align="right" | 1 893 223

| align="right" | 100

| align="right" | 0–4

| align="right" | 50 997

| align="right" | 47 398

| align="right" | 98 395

| align="right" | 5.20

| align="right" | 5–9

| align="right" | 53 160

| align="right" | 49 792

| align="right" | 102 952

| align="right" | 5.44

| align="right" | 10–14

| align="right" | 52 031

| align="right" | 49 600

| align="right" | 101 631

| align="right" | 5.37

| align="right" | 15–19

| align="right" | 46 483

| align="right" | 44 082

| align="right" | 90 565

| align="right" | 4.78

| align="right" | 20–24

| align="right" | 43 111

| align="right" | 39 983

| align="right" | 83 094

| align="right" | 4.39

| align="right" | 25–29

| align="right" | 55 036

| align="right" | 51 096

| align="right" | 106 132

| align="right" | 5.61

| align="right" | 30–34

| align="right" | 70 356

| align="right" | 66 019

| align="right" | 136 375

| align="right" | 7.20

| align="right" | 35–39

| align="right" | 67 792

| align="right" | 64 584

| align="right" | 132 376

| align="right" | 6.99

| align="right" | 40–44

| align="right" | 60 966

| align="right" | 61 455

| align="right" | 122 421

| align="right" | 6.47

| align="right" | 45–49

| align="right" | 63 622

| align="right" | 66 825

| align="right" | 130 447

| align="right" | 6.89

| align="right" | 50–54

| align="right" | 60 765

| align="right" | 67 333

| align="right" | 128 098

| align="right" | 6.77

| align="right" | 55–59

| align="right" | 61 409

| align="right" | 72 108

| align="right" | 133 517

| align="right" | 7.05

| align="right" | 60–64

| align="right" | 58 392

| align="right" | 75 130

| align="right" | 133 522

| align="right" | 7.05

| align="right" | 65–69

| align="right" | 44 750

| align="right" | 66 714

| align="right" | 111 464

| align="right" | 5.89

| align="right" | 70–74

| align="right" | 34 143

| align="right" | 59 652

| align="right" | 93 795

| align="right" | 4.95

| align="right" | 75–79

| align="right" | 23 578

| align="right" | 51 380

| align="right" | 74 958

| align="right" | 3.96

| align="right" | 80–84

| align="right" | 18 166

| align="right" | 47 524

| align="right" | 65 690

| align="right" | 3.47

| align="right" | 85–89

| align="right" | 7 544

| align="right" | 24 706

| align="right" | 32 250

| align="right" | 1.70

| align="right" | 90–94

| align="right" | 2 572

| align="right" | 10 412

| align="right" | 12 984

| align="right" | 0.69

| align="right" | 95–99

| align="right" | 317

| align="right" | 2 050

| align="right" | 2 367

| align="right" | 0.13

| align="right" | 100+

| align="right" | 35

| align="right" | 155

| align="right" | 190

| align="right" | 0.01

! width="50"|Age group

! width="80pt"|Male

! width="80"|Female

! width="80"|Total

! width="50"|Percent

| align="right" | 0–14

| align="right" | 156 188

| align="right" | 146 790

| align="right" | 302 978

| align="right" | 16.00

| align="right" | 15–64

| align="right" | 587 932

| align="right" | 608 615

| align="right" | 1 196 547

| align="right" | 63.20

| align="right" | 65+

| align="right" | 131 105

| align="right" | 262 593

| align="right" | 393 698

| align="right" | 20.80

Immigration

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

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

Latvia migration data, 1990–present

{| class="wikitable"

! Year !! Immigration !! Emigration !! Net Migration

| 1990 || 32,285 || 45,370 || −13,085

| 1991 || 14,684 || 29,729 || −15,045

| 1992 || 6,199 || 59,673 || −53,474

| 1993 || 4,114 || 36,447 || −32,333

| 1994 || 3,046 || 25,869 || −22,823

| 1995 || 2,799 || 16,512 || −13,713

| 1996 || 2,747 || 12,828 || −10,081

| 1997 || 2,913 || 12,333 || −9,420

| 1998 || 3,123 || 8,874 || −5,751

| 1999 || 1,813 || 5,898 || −4,085

| 2000 || 6,483 || 22,911 || −16,428

| 2001 || 5,376 || 24,539 || −19,163

| 2002 || 6,642 || 15,837 || −9,195

| 2003 || 4,063 || 15,647 || −11,584

| 2004 || 4,844 || 20,167 || −15,323

| 2005 || 6,691 || 17,643 || −10,952

| 2006 || 8,212 || 17,019 || −8,807

| 2007 || 7,517 || 15,463 || −7,946

| 2008 || 4,678 || 27,045 || −22,367

| 2009 || 3,731 || 38,208 || −34,477

| 2010 || 4,011 || 39,651 || −35,640

| 2011 || 10,234 || 30,311 || −20,077

| 2012 || 13,303 || 25,163 || −11,860

| 2013 || 8,299 || 22,561 || −14,262

| 2014 || 10,365 || 19,017 || −8,652

| 2015 || 9,479 || 20,119 || −10,640

| 2016 || 8,345 || 20,574 || −12,229

| 2017 || 9,916 || 17,724 || −7,808

| 2018 || 10,909 || 15,814 || −4,905

| 2019 || 11,223 || 14,583 || −3,360

| 2020 || 8,840 || 11,990 || −3,150

| 2021 || 12,689 || 12,975 || −286

| 2022 || 38,708 || 16,680 || 22,028

| 2023 || 14,370 || 17,616 || -3,246

| 2024 || 13,676 || 18,286 || -4,610

{| class="wikitable"

|+Largest groups of foreign citizens

!Rank

!Nationality

!Population (2019)

|42,243

|2,790

|2,413

|1,630

|611

|304

|201

|188

|176

|10

|171

|11

|169

|12

|151

|13

|134

|14

|128

|15

|118

|16

|115

|17

|96

|18

|88

|19

|86

|20

|82

Ethnic groups

Latvia's indigenous population has been ravaged numerous times throughout history. The earliest such event occurred during the conquest of Latvia by Peter the Great in the Great Northern War with Sweden.

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 the Baltic Germans, the Holocaust, and occupation by the Soviet Union. By the 1960s, ethnic Latvians had shrunk to a minority in the cities of Latvia, comprising 52% in 1959 and 44% in 1989.

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.

{| class="wikitable sortable" style="text-align: right;"

|+ Population of Latvia according to ethnic group 1897–2021

|- style="background:#e0e0e0;"

! rowspan="2" | Ethnic<br />group

! colspan="2" | census 1897

! colspan="2" | census 1925

! colspan="2" | census 1970

! colspan="2" | census 1979

! colspan="2" | census 1989

! colspan="2" | census 2000

! colspan="2" | census 2011

! colspan="2" |2025 statistics

|titlebar=#ddd

|width=250px

|bars=

official: Latvian
considered indigenous in some legislation: Livonian, Latgalian
Latvian Sign Language (legally recognised and supported)

In the 2011 census, 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, Latvian was spoken as a second language by 20.8% of the population, and 43.7% spoke Russian as a second language. In total, 71% of ethnic Latvians said they could speak Russian, and 52% of Russians could speak Latvian in the 2000 census.

{| style="float:right;"