Demographics of Latvia

The total population of Latvia is 1,929,938 people. People in Latvia speak the Latvian language. The linguistic diversity of Latvia is rather diverse according to a fractionalization scale which for Latvia is 0.5795. The median age is approximately 41.4 years. Life expectancy in Latvia is 73.78. The female fertility rate in Latvia is 1.6. Around 25% of the population of Latvia are obese. The ethnic diversity is rather diverse according to a fractionalization scale which for Latvia is 0.5867. To find out specifics of language, religion, age, gender distribution, and advancement of people in Latvia see the sections below, as well as visit the section concerning the education in the country.

Population

In Latvia, the population density is 31 people per square kilometer (81 per square mile). Because of this statistic, this country is considered to be sparsely populated. The total population of Latvia is 1,929,938 people. Latvia has approximately 263,126 foreign immigrants. Immigrants in Latvia represent 0.2 percent of the total number of immigrants in the world. Immigrants in Latvia represent 13.8 percent of the total number of immigrants in the world. The ethnic diversity of Latvia is rather diverse according to a fractionalization scale based on ethnicity. Ethnic fractionalization (EF) deals with the number, sizes, socioeconomic distribution, and geographical location of distinct cultural groups, usually in a state or some otherwise delineated territory. Specific cultural features might refer to language, skin color, religion, ethnicity, customs and traditions, history, or other distinctive criteria, alone or in combination. Frequently, these features are used for social exclusion and the monopolization of power. The index of ethnic fractionalization in Latvia is 0.5867. This means that there is a relatively high number of unique ethnic groups in Latvia. EF is usually measured as 1 minus the Herfindahl concentration index of ethnolinguistic group shares, which reproduces the probability that two randomly drawn individuals from the population belong to different groups. The theoretical maximum of EF of 1 means that each person belongs to a different group. Read below for statistics of Latvia on median age and gender distribution at various ages.

Age

The median age is approximately 41.4 years. The median age for men is 38.4, while the median age for women is 44.3.

Gender

The sex ratio, or the number of males for each female (estimated at birth), is 1.05. It can be further divided into the following categories: sex ratio under 15 - 1.05; sex ratio from 15 to 64 - 0.95; sex ratio over 64 - 0.49; total sex ratio - 0.86. Total sex ratio is different from sex ratio estimated at birth. This is due to the fact that some newborns are considered in the sex ratio estimated at birth but pass away within the first weeks of their life and are not included in the total sex ratio.

Religion

The majority religion of Latvia is Christianity, the followers of which comprise 55.8% of all religious believers in the country. Christianity is an Abrahamic monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus Christ as presented in the New Testament. Christianity is the world's largest religion, with over 2.4 billion adherents, known as Christians. Christians believe that Jesus is the Son of God and the savior of humanity whose coming as Christ or the Messiah was prophesied in the Old Testament. Besides Christianity, there are some followers of Buddhism in Latvia. The religious diversity of Latvia is rather diverse according to a fractionalization scale based on the number of religions in Latvia. The index of religious fractionalization in Latvia is 0.5556. This score means that there are several major religions distributed evenly within Latvia.

General development

Latvia is considered to be a developed nation. The developmental stage of a nation is determined by a number of factors including, but not limited to, economic prosperity, life expectancy, income equality, and quality of life. As a developed nation, Latvia is able to provide its citizens with social services like public education, healthcare, and law enforcement. Citizens of developed nations enjoy a high standard of living and longer life expectancies than citizens of developing nations. In Latvia, 74 in every 100 people use internet. Latvia has a Human Development Index (HDI) of 0.81. Latvia has a high HDI score. This indicates that the majority of citizens will be able to attain a desirable life while providing substantial aid and assistance to citizens with lower living standards. The migration rate in Latvia is -6.26%. In Latvia, 22.5% of the population lives below the poverty line. The percentage of citizens living below the poverty line in Latvia is fairly high, but is not reason for complete concern with regard to investments. Potential financial backers should look at other economic markers, including GDP, urbanization rate, and strength of currency, before making any decisions regarding investments.

Language

People in Latvia speak the Latvian language. The linguistic diversity of Latvia is rather diverse according to a fractionalization scale based on the number of unrelated languages spoken in Latvia. The index of linguistic fractionalization in Latvia is 0.5795. This means that there are several major languages spoken in Latvia. Unrelated languages share few characteristics of grammatical structure, vocabulary, and etymological heritage. Linguistic diversity often results in issues of social and cultural fractionalization that can impact a country’s political circumstance and public policies.