This is slightly less than in the previous two years - last year 41.9% gave this answer, and in 2022 - 39.2%. The amounts of donations have also decreased, but the number of donors is stable, "Ziedot.lv" told Latvian Radio on April 22.
The survey was conducted in April 2024. More than 1000 permanent residents of Latvia took part in the survey.
Surveys conducted over the past three years show that young people are consistently the most active donors to Ukraine and its people. 52.9% of 18-24 year olds and 47.8% of 25-34 year olds donated to Ukraine. In other age groups, the share of donors ranges from 30% to 38%.
The most active donors are people with higher education - 46.8%.
52.4% of the survey participants of Latvian nationality donated, and 19.1% of those of other nationalities. Compared to the survey conducted a year ago, the share of Latvians who have donated has decreased by 3.9%, while the share of people of other nationalities has decreased by 2.2%.
The highest percentage of respondents who donated to support Ukraine or refugees was in Vidzeme - 46.8%. Zemgale followed with 41.1% and the Riga region with 41% of donors.
The share of people who have boycotted goods for political reasons, i.e. refused to purchase goods either because of the country of production or because the producer has not stopped cooperation with Russia, has remained practically unchanged over the year. 31.8% of this year's survey respondents indicated that they had done so, which is 0.1% more than a year ago. This includes 46.1% of Latvian respondents and 11.2% of non-Latvians.
Younger people are also more likely to refuse to buy goods for political reasons. 53.8% of 18-24 year olds and 44.4% of 25-34 year olds indicated that they do so.
Rūta Dimanta, the head of "Ziedot.lv", pointed out that donations to both Ukrainian refugees and Ukraine are stable in terms of numbers, but the amounts of donations have decreased. Support for Ukrainian refugees has decreased markedly. This is due to the fact that the third year of the war is underway, people seeking asylum in Latvia arrived at the beginning of the war, have now managed to settle in and the problems are now similar to those in Latvia, so the need for emergency assistance has diminished, except for Latvian language courses, for example. As far as aid to Ukraine is concerned, it is mostly donated for military purposes - defense.
"Support has stabilized. If at the beginning of the war there was a lot of public involvement, a lot of donations, then in the second year of the war the circle of support stabilized - the people and companies that are still supporting are stable. The reasons are different: firstly, there is the war, secondly, people and businesses have their own needs, and we are also focusing on other problems. The shock of the first time has passed, maybe there was also a feeling that the international community is helping and will help and that the involvement of people and businesses is not so important anymore," said Dimanta.
Pēteris Grūbe, head of the Riga Support Center for Ukrainians, also said: "It is quite logical and understandable that after two years the activity has dropped compared to the activity at the beginning of the war, but it is understandable because everybody is getting tired of the war."
He pointed out that courses of all kinds - language, business start-up and others - are still plentiful and easily available, but that overall support from the public has declined.
"If we don't want to require such donations ourselves one day, then we should not relax and we should continue to do so. We should bear in mind that while Ukrainians are fighting, they are fighting not only for their freedom, but also for ours. We must always somehow rouse ourselves and remember that nothing is over. Donations are not always in the material sense, sometimes going and participating in an activity and doing some manual work is a good donation," Grūbe said.
Ukraine still needs defense support and basic items such as drones, first aid kits, cars, bulletproof vests, uniforms and other items are very much needed at the moment. The organizations also stress the need for fuel to be able to travel regularly to Ukraine to deliver aid.
You can find the current donation campaigns to Ukraine and Ukrainians on the Ziedot.lv platform.
