A country on the move – migration and demographic crisis in Latvia

Since regaining independence in 1991, Latvia has suffered massive population loss. At that time, the country had roughly 2.7 million inhabitants. Today, officials count almost 2 million. Between the censuses in 1989 and 2011, this decline was approximately 600,000 people, representing 22.5% of the population. This is by far the highest value in Europe. Latvia’s shrinking population is a result of the interplay between natural and spatial population movements. Latvia is facing a persistent demographic crisis with problems such as fertility decline, ageing, out-migration, brain drain and regional polarization