In the 1st quarter, unemployment rate in Latvia constituted 8.1 %

Results of the Labour Force Survey conducted by the Central Statistical Bureau (CSB) show that in the 1st quarter of 2021 unemployment rate in Latvia constituted 8.1 %. Compared to the previous quarter, the unemployment rate has risen by 0.2 percentage points, but over a year – by 0.5 percentage points.

In the 1st quarter of this year, there were 74.7 thousand unemployed persons aged 15 to 74, which is by 0.4 thousand more than a year ago and by 0.9 thousand less than in the previous quarter.

Number of unemployed

(thousands)

 See OSP database: NBB160c

In the 4th quarter of 2020, the unemployment rate in Latvia (7.9 %) was 0.6 percentage points higher than the average indicator (7,3 %).of the European Union (EU) Member States.¹ In the 1st quarter of 2021, Latvia had the highest unemployment rate in the Baltic States - in Estonia unemployment rate was 7.1 %, but in Lithuania - 7.5 %.

Duration of unemployment

In the 1st quarter of 2021, 39.7 thousand unemployed persons were out of a job for up to 5 months. It is by 0.3 thousand less than a year ago, but by 0.5 thousand more than in the previous quarter. 14.6 thousand were unemployed for 6-11 months. The number of these persons has increased compared to the 1st quarter of the previous year (by 1.6 thousand) but has decreased compared to the previous quarter (by 1.2 thousand). In the 1st quarter, there were 20.4 thousand long-term unemployed persons - by 0.9 thousand less than a year ago and by 0.2 thousand less than in the 4th quarter of 2020. In the 1st quarter, the share of the long-term unemployed in the total number of unemployed persons was 27.3 % (the same as in the previous quarter). Compared to the corresponding period of the previous year, it has decreased by 1.4 percentage points.

Unemployed persons by duration of unemployment

(as per cent)

CSB estimate

Youth unemployment

In the 1st quarter of 2021, the youth unemployment rate (persons aged 15–24) was 16.3 %, which is 1.5 percentage points higher than a year ago and 5.0 percentage points higher than in the previous quarter. Over the year, the number of youth unemployed has decreased by 0.5 thousand but increased by 2.3 thousand compared to the previous quarter.

In the 1st quarter, 11.4 % of all unemployed were young people. Their share decreased by 0.8 percentage points over the year but increased by 3.2 percentage points compared to the previous quarter.

In the 1st quarter, 30.4 % of all young people were economically active, i.e. employed or actively looking for work (unemployed), while 69.6 % of young people were inactive - mostly still studying and not looking for work.

Inactive population

In the 1st quarter of 2021, one third (33.0 %) or 457.4 thousand people aged 15 to 74 were inactive, i.e. were not employed and did not actively look for work. Compared to the previous quarter, the number of inactive population has increased by 31.2 thousand or 7.3 %, but over the year - by 39.8 thousand or 9.5 %.

In the 1st quarter 7.0 thousand or 1.5 % of the inactive population had lost hope of finding a job. For comparison, a year earlier it was 3.0 %, but in the 4th quarter of 2020 - 2.5 %.

In the 1st quarter of 2021, 4.2 thousand households participated in the Labour Force Survey on economic activity, in which 7.3 thousand people aged 15 to 74 were surveyed: in the 15-89 age group - 4.6 thousand households, where 8.2 thousand inhabitants were surveyed.

¹ EU average indicators on 27 Member States.

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

More information on data:
Sandra Ceriņa
Social Statistics Data Compilation and Analysis Section
E-mail: Sandra.Cerina@csp.gov.lv
Phone: +371 67366653