Life expectancy at birth in Latvia over a period of 100 years

The official statistics portal now offers historical data for the life expectancy at birth¹ in Latvia also covering the period from 1924 to 1943 thus providing the data users with a 100-year retrospective. The new historical data result from the collaboration² with Dr.hist. Ilmārs Mežs (historian and demographics expert, researcher at Vidzeme University of Applied Sciences).

Pre-war period marked by sharp increase in the life expectancy at birth

The new data cover a period of 20 years from 1924 to 1943 and describe the standard of living in Latvia before the World War II. In 1924 life expectancy at birth in Latvia was 53.1 years (56.4 years for females and 49.9 years for males). By the World War II the figure had increased by seven years, and in 1938 it reached 60.1 years (62.9 for females and 57.1 for males). Life expectancy reduced sharply as the war begun and in 1943 fell almost to the figure registered in 1924. At that time, just like nowadays, women tended to live longer than man (5.7 years more on average).

No data for 1941

Over a period of 100 years life expectancy has increased by 20 years

After the World War II life expectancy at birth decreased, however by the 1950s, as scientific advances had rapidly reduced infant mortality, it went up again reaching an average of 70 years in the early 1960s. For the next 30 years, due the Russian occupation policy implemented in the country and despite the global trend, life expectancy in Latvia stagnated.

As Latvia regained its independence, the figure increased by six years and reached 75.5 years in 2023 (80.4 years for women and 70.4 years for men). COVID-19 pandemic caused the life expectancy to drop by 2.5 years in 2021 compared to 2019. However, in 2023 (compared to 2022) the figure went up again (by 1.1 years).

Over a period of 100 years (from 1924 to 2023), the average life expectancy at birth has increased by 22.4 years – from 53.1 to 75.5. For females it has grown by 24 years (from 56.4 to 80.4) and for males by 20.5 years (from 49.9 to 70.4). In the pre-war period (from 1924 to 1938), the life expectancy gap between men and women was less pronounced as it is today – then women lived on average 5.7 years longer while in the past decade the gap has been 9–10 years.

The highest life expectancy at birth in the past century was registered in 2019 – 75.6 on average. The same year is marked with the peak figure for males – 70.8 years, however for females it was 2023 with 80.4 years (in 2019 for females it was 79.9 years).

No data for 1941 and from 1944 to 1957 as well as no gender breakdown for 1962 and 1964.

Before the World War II life expectancy at birth in Latvia was close to the EU average

In 1924, the average life expectancy at birth in European countries³ ranged from 46.3 years in Spain to 62.9 years in the Netherlands. In Latvia (53.1 years) it was below the EU average (56.3 years), however above the figure registered in Italy, Finland and Spain.

In 1938, when life expectancy at birth in Latvia was the highest in the 20-year period from 1924 to 1943, i.e., 60.1 years, the average figure in the European countries was 61.1 years. Lower life expectancy was recorded in France, Estonia, Finland, Italy and Spain and longer in the Netherlands, Norway, Sweden, Denmark, Iceland, Switzerland and the United Kingdom, with Belgium equalling Latvia at 60.1 years.

Data compiled by Ilmārs Mežs, data source: Life expectancy (ourworldindata.org)

Life expectancy at birth for males is one of the lowest in the EU

In 2022, the average life expectancy at birth in the European Union (EU) countries was 80.6 years (83.3 for females and 79.9 for males). Higher figure  – 83 years on average – was registered in Spain, Sweden, Luxembourg and Italy and lower – under 76 years – in Lithuania, Romania, Latvia and Bulgaria.

The highest life expectancy at birth for females (85 years on average) was in Spain, Luxembourg, France, Sweden and Italy (79.4 years in Latvia) while the lowest in Bulgaria (77.9 years).

The highest life expectancy for males (81 years on average) was in Sweden, Ireland, Luxembourg and Italy whereas Latvia and Bulgaria had the lowest figure among the EU countries (69.4 and 70.6 years, respectively).

The research was supported by the project Quantitative Data about Societal and Economic Transformations in the Regions of the Three Baltic States during the Last Hundred Years for the Analysis of Historical Transformations and the Overcoming of Future Challenges (BALTIC100) No EEA-RESEARCH-174.

Methodological information

¹ Life expectancy at birth is the mean number of years that a person would be expected to live if the mortality rates for each population age group remained the same as in the year of birth throughout the person’s lifetime.

² The data compiled by Dr.hist. Ilmārs Mežs (information kept in collection 1308 at Latvian State Historical Archive) were processed with modern Central Statistical Bureau methodology used for the life expectancy at birth calculations.

³ European countries on which the most complete data for 1924–1943 are available.

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More information on data:
Ance Ceriņa
Social Statistics Methodology Section
E-mail: Ance.Cerina@csp.gov.lv
Phone: +371 67366904