Historically, the worst assessments of the year for Latvia as a whole were expressed at the end of 2009 when only 4% said the year was better than the previous and 79% said it was worse. Last year, 4% said the year 2020 was better than 2019 and 65% said it was worse.
The 2021 survey shows that 16% of the population assess this year as personally better for themselves, 31% say it has been worse, while 45% think it has been the same as the previous one. Historically, the worst personal assessments were also at the end of 2009 followed by 2020.
According to SKDS, the population's forecasts on what Latvia might experience next year indicate a slight increase in optimism compared to the answers given for the near future at the end of last year.
In forecasting whether the year 2022 will be better, worse, or the same as 2021 for Latvia, a total of 24% of the population expects it to be better, 20% think it will be worse, but 40% think it will be the same as 2021.
For comparison, by the end of last year, 18% of the population projected that 2021 would be better for Latvia, 23% thought it would be worse, while 41% expected it to be the same as the year 2020.
Historically, the most pessimistic forecasts of the following year for their country were provided by Latvian residents at the end of 2008, when only 11% of the population forecast that the following year would be better for Latvia, while 52% expected it to be worse.
Population forecasts for what whether the year 2022 will personally show that 35% expect it to get better next year, only 13% think it will be worse, while 28% think it will be the same as 2021.
SKDS said it was a more optimistic assessment than last year, when only 28% predicted that next year would be better for them personally, 17% thought it would be worse, while 34% expected it to be the same as 2020.
The survey was conducted from December 3 to 14, with the stratified random sample method surveying 1017 respondents aged 18 to 75 throughout Latvia.
