In 2021 mortality rate twice as high as birth rate

Provisional data compiled by the Central Statistical Bureau show that in 2021, 34 142 deaths were registered, which was the highest number of deaths recorded in the last 20 years and twice the number of births.

Between 2005 and 2019, the number of deaths tended to decrease. In 2020, when the COVID-19 pandemic started, there was a slight increase of only 4 % compared to 2019 (1 135 more deaths than the year before). However, in 2021 the situation changed and the number of deaths was the highest in the last 20 years, with an increase of 18 % compared to 2020, or 5 288 deaths. The largest increase in deaths occurred at the end of 2021, in October and November, when the number of deaths was 24 % higher than in the average months of 2021.

Last year, one of the lowest fertility rates in 100 years

Last year's fertility rate was one of the lowest in the last 100 years (17 115 births), as the number of births continued to fall. With a declining population of reproductive age, fertility has been declining since 2016. A similar trend continued during the two years of the pandemic – in 2021, provisional data show that 2.5 % or 437 fewer children were born than in the previous year.

Largest difference between births and deaths in last 20 years

Natural growth in Latvia remains negative. In 2021, the number of deaths (17 027) exceeded twice the number of births. That was the largest difference between births and deaths in last 20 years. 

On 1 January 2021, the estimated population in Latvia was 1 million 873 thousand.

5 % increase in the number of marriages in 2021

In 2021, 11 231 marriages were registered, an increase of 5 % (529 marriages) compared to the previous year, when the pandemic restrictions started. In the last six years before the pandemic (2014 – 2019), the number of marriages per year exceeded 12 thousand. The situation changed in 2020 when the number of marriages decreased by 16.8 % (from 12 861 in 2019 to 10 702 in 2020) because of the restrictions of gatherings. The pre-pandemic level of marriages has not yet been reached.

The number of births and deaths by months can be viewed in an interactive graph on the OSP.

The methodology for processing the provisional data by CSB is available in the descriptive metadata section Fertility and mortality of the population of the Official Statistics Portal.

Socio-economic indicators of the emergency situation available on the Official Statistics Portal Covid-19 impact on socio-economic indicators.

Methodological explanations

Deaths - provisional number of deaths in the respective month. When compiling the annual statistics, the data are updated by including in the number of deaths persons who died in the respective month, registered as dead after the registration time set in the country (6 working days), as well as persons who were permanent residents of Latvia in the previous year but died while staying abroad for a certain period of time.

Live births– provisional number of live births in the respective month. When compiling the annual statistics, the data are updated to include children born in the month in question who were registered after the national birth registration time (one month after birth) and children born outside Latvia to mothers who were permanent residents of Latvia in the year in question. In turn, children whose parents are not Latvian nationals and neither of whose parents has indicated Latvia as their usually place of residence are excluded from the total.

Media requests:
Communication Section
E-mail: media@csp.gov.lv
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More information on data:
Ruta Beināre
Social Statistics Methodology Section
E-mail: Ruta.Beinare@csp.gov.lv
Phone: +371 67366775