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…
The health of Lithuania’s former president, Valdas Adamkus, is improving after surgery, ELTA reports. However, he will remain under medical supervision at Vilnius University Hospital Santaros Clinics. Adamkus was hospitalised on 26 September 2026 after experiencing a sudden health problem, BNS reported. Adamkus, who will turn 100 years old on 3 November 2026, served as…
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 had around 413,000 seniors aged 65 years and older in the beginning of 2026, which was 25,000 more than in 2016, according to the Central Statistical Bureau’s (CSP) data, LSM reported. Seniors now account for 22.4% of Latvia’s total population, which is up from 19.9% ten years ago. Latvia has the EU’s largest gender…
Estonians are markedly more active physically than Latvians and Lithuanians, according to Eurostat statistics, LSM reports. The data showed that 73.2% of Estonians aged 16 years or older engaged in physical activity outside work at least once a week in 2025, which was down from 82.4% in 2022. By comparison, a mere 52.3% (47.7%) of…
Estonia’s population is smaller but richer and healthier now than it was at the restoration of the country’s independence in 1991, according to Statistics Estonia’s data, ERR reports. Estonia’s population totalled 1,360,745 people in the beginning of 2026, which was down 13.2% from 1,567,749 in 1991. Native Estonian-speakers now account for 68.5% of Estonia’s population,…
Latvia has failed to reach targets set in the country’s addiction prevention plan for 2023-2025, the Ministry of Health announced, LETA reported. The ministry’s evaluation report attributed the incomplete implementation of the plan to the lack of government budget funding. The plan included 35 measures to reduce alcohol and drug use, of which 19 were…
An interagency commission of the Estonian government has proposed several measures to reduce the consumption of alcohol in the country, ERR reports. The commission has published a framework plan for Estonia’s alcohol policy for 2026-2035. The document calls for raising the alcohol excise tax, shortening retail alcohol sales hours, reducing the number of licensed outlets,…
