Editing Demographics of Latvia (section)

== Depopulation ==
Latvia is one of the most depopulating countries in the world, losing about 20,000 people every year. Between 1990 and 2024, Latvia's population decreased by 780,000 people, from 2.66 million to 1.88 million, or 30%, and continues to decline. Over the next thirty years Latvia will lose another 23.5% as a result of continued depopulation.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Henley |first=Jon |date=16 November 2022 |title=‘Without enough Latvians, we won’t be Latvia’: eastern Europe’s shrinking population |url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2022/nov/16/latvia-baltic-population-demographic-crisis |access-date=9 September 2024 |work=The Guardian |language=en-GB |issn=0261-3077}}</ref>

According to [[OECD]] estimates, the causes of depopulation are very high emigration,<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Hazans |first=Mihails |date=1 January 2013 |title=Emigration from Latvia: Recent trends and economic impact |url=https://www.academia.edu/48273611/Emigration_from_Latvia_Recent_trends_and_economic_impact |journal=Coping with Emigration in Baltic and East European Countries}}</ref> especially of national minorities, high consumption of alcohol <ref>{{Cite web |title=Alcohol consumption |url=https://www.oecd.org/en/data/indicators/alcohol-consumption.html |access-date=9 September 2024 |website=OECD |language=en}}</ref> and tobacco, low quality of health care and their concentration in large cities,<ref>{{Cite web |date=15 March 2023 |title=Far behind Riga: Latvia’s problems with uneven development |url=https://www.osw.waw.pl/en/publikacje/osw-commentary/2023-03-15/far-behind-riga-latvias-problems-uneven-development |access-date=9 September 2024 |website=OSW Centre for Eastern Studies |language=en}}</ref> and demographic transition.<ref>{{Cite web |date=16 July 2024 |title=Looking for a way out: Latvia’s demographic crisis |url=https://www.osw.waw.pl/en/publikacje/komentarze-osw/2024-07-16/w-poszukiwaniu-drogi-wyjscia-lotwa-wobec-kryzysu |access-date=9 September 2024 |website=OSW Centre for Eastern Studies |language=en}}</ref>

By 2045, Latvia's population is projected to be 1.5 million, and by 2060 it is expected to be smaller than [[Estonia]]'s population. By 2100, Latvia's population is expected to fall to just 1.16 million.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Latvia's population could fall to 1 million by century's end |url=https://eng.lsm.lv/article/society/society/30.03.2023-latvias-population-could-fall-to-1-million-by-centurys-end.a502489/ |access-date=9 September 2024 |website=eng.lsm.lv |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=Latvia's population decline this century set to be EU's steepest |url=https://eng.lsm.lv/article/society/society/18.04.2023-latvias-population-decline-this-century-set-to-be-eus-steepest.a505327/ |access-date=9 September 2024 |website=eng.lsm.lv |language=en}}</ref>