In 2015, just over 8,000 residence permits were in force, of which 6,694 were for workers and the rest for their family members. In 2024, 17,726 residence permits are valid, of which 15,558 are for workers.
In 2024, the number of temporary residence permits have gone down compared to the peak in 2021, when a total of 18,024 permits were valid in Latvia.
"If we look back at the last 10 years - a huge wave of emigration from Latvia, there are not enough local workers. In the absence of major crises, the availability of workers is the main problem."
Currently, the largest number of foreign workers in Latvia comes from Ukraine (3,347), followed by Uzbekistan (2,549) and Belarus (1,423).
Andris Bite, head of the Latvian Employers' Confederation, believes that the number of migrant workers in Latvia will double again in the next 10 years.
"I have to say - yes. And the question is how we will cope with it. We, as employers, offer the state to evaluate the mistakes of Sweden or the positive example of Finland. This does not have bad social consequences," Bite noted.
