Covid-19 crisis had a negative impact on the mental health of half the population

Population Survey on Income and Living Conditions 2021 carried out by the Central Statistical Bureau (CSB) of Latvia show that half (50.2 %) of the Latvian population aged 16 and over believes that the Covid-19 crisis had a negative impact on their mental health. 48.7 % of the population believe that it had no impact, while 1.1 % of the population was positively affected by the Covid-19 crisis.

Females are more likely than males to have been affected by the Covid-19 crisis, with 52.9 % of females and 46.8 % of males saying they had experienced negative effects on their mental health in the last 12 months.

The negative impact of the pandemic crisis on mental health was felt most by 35-44 year old persons (56 %) and 16-24 year old persons (54.6 %), and least by seniors aged 75+ (39.5 %) and 65-74 year old persons (47.7 %).

Urban inhabitants were more likely than rural inhabitants to experience negative impacts on their mental health (52.1 % and 46.2 % respectively). More than half (55.8 %) of Riga inhabitants said that the COVID-19 crisis had had a negative impact on their mental health.

Parents raising children alone (65.6 %) and couples with 3 or more children (64.4 %) felt the negative impact of the pandemic on their mental health the most, while seniors aged 65+ (41.6 %) who live alone and couples without children (48.6 %) felt it the least.

More than half of the population with tertiary education felt the negative impact of the pandemic (52 %), 50.2 % of those with secondary education and 46.6 % of those with primary education or less. When analysed by main occupational status, the unemployed felt the negative impact of the Covid-19 crisis on their mental health the most (54.9 %), while pensioners felt it the least (43.3 %).

The CSB conducts an annual Survey on Income and Living Conditions (EU-SILC), which also provides information on the impact of the Covid-19 crisis on people's mental health, income and opportunities to work and study remotely. In 2021, data are collected from 6.5 thousand households and 11.7 thousand individuals. The CSB kindly requests everyone who receives a letter or a text message from the CSB to respond and participate in the survey. The CSB thanks all those who have already participated in the survey to assess the impact of Covid-19 on the well-being of the Latvian population.

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

More information on data:
Darja Goreva
Social Statistics Data Compilation and Analysis Section
E-mail: Darja.Goreva@csp.gov.lv
Phone: +371 67366997