People in the Baltic States rate their health much worse than the EU average, according to Eurostat, LSM reported. The data showed that 57.8% of people aged 16 years or older in Estonia said that their health was good or very good in 2025, which was almost unchanged from 57.7% in 2024. The corresponding figure…
Latvia’s Ministry of Education and Science plans to incorporate family values and health literacy into the country’s national education curriculum, LETA reports. The new teaching module is scheduled to be developed by May 2027. Critics, including the Latvian Trade Union of Education and Science Employees (LIZDA), have voiced concerns that the planned educational content could…
Women have accounted for around 60% of all students in higher education in Estonia since at least 2010, ERR reports. In health and welfare majors, there were 5,553 female and just 1,246 male students. At the same time, men account for 54% of students in vocational education. Estonia’s latest PISA results show that girls outscore…
Latvian Prime Minister Andris Kulbergs suggested holding a consultative popular referendum on Latvia’s possible withdrawal from the Council of Europe’s Istanbul Convention on violence against women, LETA reports. Kulbergs said that the ruling United List had discussed the idea of a legally non-binding referendum on the question with President Edgars Rinkevics. Kulbergs said that referendum…
The Baltic States have among the highest suicide rates in the EU, according to Eurostat, LSM reports. The data show that the number of suicides in Lithuania was 562 in 2023, which was up from 532 in 2022. Suicides totalled 270 (231) in Latvia and 199 (195) in Estonia. Lithuania’s standardised death rate for intentional…
Latvia’s United List continues to oppose the ratification of the Council of Europe’s Istanbul Convention on violence against women, but is not committed to withdrawing from the treaty immediately, Prime Minister Andris Kulbergs stated, LETA reports. He said that the question should not be made into a top political priority, given that the treaty had…
The number of children aged 0-17 years in Latvia totalled 334,233 in the beginning of 2026, which was down 2.7% from 343,555 a year earlier, according to the Central Statistical Bureau’s (CSP) data, LSM reported. Children accounted for 18.1% (18.5%) of Latvia’s population. The number of boys amounted to 171,836 (176,322) and girls to 162,486…
The Latvian government has asked the State Chancellery to conduct a comprehensive analysis of state funding for non-governmental organisations (NGOs), LETA reports. Prime Minister Andris Kulbergs alleged that NGOs were wasting taxpayer money, LSM reported. He suggested that state funding for NGOs created a conflict of interest, insisting that NGOs should not depend on state…
Three political groups in the Lithuanian parliament, the Seimas, have signed an agreement on a new coalition government, BNS reports. The new ruling coalition will include the Lithuanian Social Democratic Party (LSDP), the Union of Democrats for Lithuania, and the joint parliamentary group of the Lithuanian Union of Farmers and Greens and the Electoral Action…
