Poland, Greece, Hungary, Slovakia, Bulgaria and Italy all had population declines of less than 0.5% in 2023. By contrast, Malta (3.9%), Luxembourg (1.7%), Ireland and Cyprus (1.4% each) had the highest population growth.
In recent years, the population of Latvia has declined mainly as a result of negative natural growth, with the number of deaths exceeding the number of births. While in 2023 there was a positive migration balance (immigrants outnumbered emigrants), negative natural growth (-0.7%) resulted in a population decline again.
In 2021, the number of births per 1,000 inhabitants in Latvia was still equal to the EU average, but it continues to decline every year. In 2023, the EU had 8.2 births per 1,000 inhabitants, while Latvia had 7.7.
In 2023, 14,490 children were born in Latvia - 1 464 or 9.2% fewer than in 2022, the lowest number in the last 100 years.
In 2023, there were 8.8% fewer deaths than in 2022, and 19% fewer than the high mortality rate in 2021. However, the number of deaths per 1,000 population in Latvia last year was the second highest in the EU after Bulgaria (EU average - 10.8, Latvia - 14.9, Bulgaria - 15.7). Latvia has long had one of the highest rates in the EU.
In 2022, Russia's military invasion of Ukraine changed the world. Most countries saw their populations grow due to the large emigration of Ukrainian war refugees. Latvia was no exception, and for the second year in a row, the largest share of arrivals came from Ukraine - 25.1% in 2023 (63.6% in 2022), or one in four of all immigrants.
Population growth due to migration in Latvia was relatively small compared to other EU countries - the lowest was in Poland (0.1 per 1,000 inhabitants), followed by Slovakia (0.3) and Latvia (1.3). Malta had the highest migration per 1,000 inhabitants in the EU (37.9), followed by Portugal (14.7) and Luxembourg (14.0). The EU average was 6.3.
