Births, deaths decline

RIGA - Provisional results from the population and housing census show that Latvia’s population dropped by 23,000 this year, reports Nozare.lv. In 2010, Latvia’s population fell by 18,700, according to data from the Central Statistical Bureau. The population number due to natural movement (the number of deaths exceeding births) will decrease by almost 10,000 this year, and due to international long-term migration – by 13,000 persons.

During the last three years the birth rate in Latvia has continued to decrease. The number of births during the first 10 months of the year reached 15,700 – 500 births, or 2.9 percent, less than in ten months of 2010 (and in the first ten months of 2010, the number of births was 12.7 percent lower when compared to the ten months of 2009). The provisional data shows that in 2011 the number of births will reach 18,700 - about 2.6 percent less than in 2010. The number of deaths this year has decreased, according to the statistical data.

In the first ten months of this year, the number of deaths comprised 23,800 persons, compared to 25,000 deaths in the ten months of 2010. The number of deaths in 2011 will constitute about 28,600, or about 1,500 persons (five percent) less than in 2010. A positive trend observed is an increasing number of marriages. In the first ten months of this year, the number of marriages (9,400) slightly exceeded the number of marriages concluded during the entire 2010, and by the end of the year this number may reach 10,500.

The growth of the marriage rate may positively influence the birth rate. The population has also decreased due to international migration. Analysis of the data received from the Office of Citizenship and Migration Affairs shows that the volume of emigration this year is growing significantly. In the first ten months of 2011, 14,900 persons have declared their emigration in the civil register, and the number already exceeds the number of persons who emigrated in 2010 (10,700) by 39.3 percent