Latvia’s population totalled 1.845 million people in the beginning of 2026, which was down 15,500 (0.83%) from a year earlier, according to data from the Central Statistical Bureau (CSP), LSM reported. The population declined in all regions. Altogether 69.8% of people lived in cities and 30.2% in rural areas, with 46.0% living in Riga region. Women accounted for 53.6% and men for 46.4% of the population. Married people accounted for 44.3%, singles for 30.1%, divorced for 15.6%, and widowed for 9.8% of the population.
The working-age population accounted for 62.8% of the total population in the beginning of 2026, while children aged 14 years and younger accounted for 14.8% and those aged 65 years or older for 22.4% of the population. The mean age of the population was 43.7 years. The number of births totalled 11,931 (down 7.4%), while deaths numbered 26,109 (down 2.1%) in 2025. At the same time, around 13,800 people moved to Latvia (down 6.0%), while 15,100 people moved away from the country (down 20.2%) in 2025.
Ethnic Latvians accounted for 63.8% (63.5%) and Russians for 23.1% (23.3%) of the total population in the beginning of 2026. Out of the total population, 88.6% were born in Latvia and 11.4% abroad. Altogether 87.9% of the country’s population were Latvian citizens, 8.7% non-citizen residents of Latvia, and 3.4% foreign nationals. Latvia provided residence to around 17,200 Ukrainians officially registered as refugees in the beginning of 2026, which was down from 17,500 in the beginning of 2025, CSP reported.