Latvian is mother tongue of 64 % of the population

Results of the Adult Education Survey (AES) compiled by the Central Statistical Bureau of Latvia (CSB) show that Latvian is mother tongue¹ for more than a half (64.3 %) of population aged 18–69. More AES results (in Latvian only) are available in the latest CSB informative leaflet.

Latvian and Russian are the two most common mother tongues in Latvia: Latvian for 64.3 % of the inhabitants and Russian for 37.7 %. Other mother tongues used in the country include Ukrainian (1.7 %) and Latgalian (1.3 %). However, in Latgale region Latgalian is mother tongue for 8.4 % of its population.

As regards the language used for in-house communication, majority (62.0 %) of the population (aged 18–69) use Latvian and about a third (34.6 %) Russian. Latgalian is used by 1.2 % of the total population and 8.8 % of the population in Latgale region. Other languages are less common as are used by just 2.2 % of the population.

The informative leaflet Results of Adult Education Survey 2022 contains statistics for mother tongue, language used at home, language skills as well as formal, non-formal education and informal learning activities. The information was collected in 2021 and 2022 surveying people aged 18–69. Sample consisted of 8 764 people, of which 62.7 % took part in the survey.

The survey sample was built with mathematical methods, thus ensuring representativeness of population of different ages, sexes, and regions. There are no administrative data about mother tongue and language used at home, whereas collection thereof with a traditional census would be excessively costly. The quality of the data was assessed by evaluating response rates in different groups, moreover the data are comparable with those in the respective age group obtained prior.

The AES was conducted based on a common Eurostat methodology and the results acquired are internationally comparable at EU level. Survey results and reference metadata are available on the official statistics portal.

Methodological information

¹Mother tongue – refers to the language(s) learned at home in childhood and still understood by the individual at the time of the survey. The term 'mother tongue' does not mean that it is the language of one's mother, as in bilingual homes the language of the father could be the most dominant. Or it could also be that both languages, of mother and father, are used; in which case the person has more than one mother tongue.

²Language used at home – the language used for in-house communication (apart from the mother tongue) at the time of the survey. Respondents were asked to report just one language used at home.

Media requests:
Communication Section
E-mail: media@csp.gov.lv
Phone: + 371 27880666

More information on data:
Social Statistics Methodology Section
Kalvis Okmanis
E-mail: Kalvis.Okmanis@csp.gov.lv
Phone: +371 67366640