LSM: Number of Latvians in Latvia down, proportion up in ten years
Since 2011, the number of Latvians in Latvia has decreased, however the proportion of Latvians among other ethnic backgrounds in the country's population of approximately 1.89 million has increased, Latvian Public Broadcasting (LSM) reported Monday.
As of the beginning of 2022, a total of 1.182 million people classified as ethnic Latvians lived in Latvia — down by 74,300 since 2011 in absolute numbers, according to figures published by the Central Statistical Bureau (CSP), LSM said via LETA on Monday.
The proportion of Latvians in the country's overall population, however, has increased — from 60.5 percent in 2011 to 63 percent at the beginning of 2022.
According to the CSP, the ethnic composition of the population varies significantly by region and city. As of the beginning of this year, ethnic Latvians accounted for less than half of the population in the capital city of Riga and the eastern cities of Daugavpils and Rezekne, with Daugavpils having the lowest proportion of ethnic Latvian residents at 20.9 percent.
Located approximately between Riga and Tartu, Valmiera had the highest share of ethnic Latvian residents at 85.4 percent.
As of the beginning of the year, ethnic Russians accounted for 24.2, Belarusians 3.1, Ukrainians 2.2, Poles 1.9 and Lithuanians 1.1 percent of the Latvian population.
All other ethnicities combined accounted for 4.5 percent of the country's overall population.
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Editor: Aili Vahtla
