8 Billion Lives
Be born

Where you could be born / Europe / Northern Europe

Born in Latvia

About 1 in 9,304 people born in 2023 started life in Latvia. A boy can expect to live 72 years and a girl 81, up from 61 and 68 in 1950. Most people live in cities, and nearly everyone has basic drinking water.

1 in 9,304
odds of being born here
14,200 births · Ranked 163rd of 230
72 / 81
years of life, boys / girls
Was 61 / 68 in 1950
$14,607
income per person a year
2021 dollars · Ranked 66th of 203 · extrapolated
68%
live in a city
The rest live in villages

Life and health

Life lasts about 12 years longer than in 1950. Child deaths fell from 74 in every 1,000 births to 3.6.

How long a life lasts

GirlsBoys

0255075100195019852023

Years a baby born that year could expect to live.

Children who die before age 5
020406080195019852023

In every 1,000 births.

Life expectancy at birth71.6 years for boys, 80.5 for girlsUN WPP 2024
Children who die before age 53.6 in every 1,000 birthsUN WPP 2024
Deaths a year28,000UN WPP 2024
Doctors per 1,000 people3.4World Bank WDI
Children immunized against measles97%World Bank WDI
Adults living with HIV0.5%World Bank WDI
New tuberculosis cases a year22 per 100,000 peopleWorld Bank WDI

Family

Women had 2.1 children on average in 1950. Now it is 1.3, below the 2.1 it takes to keep a population steady.

Children per woman
0123195019852023

Average over a lifetime.

Children per woman1.34UN WPP 2024
Average age of mothers at birth30.3 yearsUN WPP 2024

Money and work

If every 100 coins of income were shared out, the richest fifth would hold 41 and the poorest fifth 7.

Who gets the income
Share of all income by fifth of the population, 2023
7%Poorest fifth
12%Second
17%Middle
22%Fourth
41%Richest fifth
Income per personabout $14,607 a year (2021 dollars, adjusted for prices)World Bank PIP, scaled between survey years Extrapolated
Share of income going to the richest fifth / poorest fifth41% / 7% (2023)World Bank PIP
Unemployment6.5% of the workforce (2023)World Bank WDI
Price rises8.9% a year (2023)World Bank WDI
Growth in output per person-1.2% (2023)World Bank WDI
Jobs in farming6% of jobsWorld Bank WDI
Self-employed14% of jobs (2025)World Bank WDI
Secondary school enrolment102% (can pass 100 when older students are counted)World Bank WDI

Daily life

The largest city is Riga, with 742,572 people.

68%
live in cities
100%
have electricity at home
99%
have basic drinking water
Largest cities
People living there
Riga742,572
Daugavpils78,126
Liepāja67,421
Jelgava54,834
Jūrmala52,001
Languages
Share of people who can use each
Latvian61%
English46%
Russian38%
Latgalian9%
Latvian is official.

Cities and regions

Every state, province and large city with a page.

Largest regions

Riga742,572
Daugavpils78,126
Liepaja67,421
Jelgava54,834
Jūrmala52,001
Ventspils32,723
Rēzekne26,429
Valmiera22,812
Ogre22,767
Jēkabpils Municipality21,014

Sourced: GeoNames Population of each state, province or region.

All 14 regions
  • Riga742,572
  • Daugavpils78,126
  • Liepaja67,421
  • Jelgava54,834
  • Jūrmala52,001
  • Ventspils32,723
  • Rēzekne26,429
  • Valmiera22,812
  • Ogre22,767
  • Jēkabpils Municipality21,014
  • Mārupe19,096
  • Salaspils Municipality17,826
  • Tukums Municipality16,182
  • Cēsis Municipality15,020

People on the move

About 8.6% as many people born here live abroad as live here. The most common destinations are Russia, Ireland, Ukraine.

Where people born here live abroad
By country of residence, 2024
Russia38,075
Ireland20,840
Ukraine20,086
Residents born abroad11.8% (2024)World Bank WDI
People born here who live abroadequal to 8.6% of the people who live hereUN DESA migrant stock
Where they go mostRussia (38,075), Ireland (20,840), Ukraine (20,086)UN DESA migrant stock
Money sent home from abroadabout $1.4 billion a year (2025)World Bank WDI

Safety nets

100% of older people receive a pension. Help for someone who loses a job reaches 46%.

100%
of older people receive a pension (2022)
46%
of unemployed people receive a benefit (2022)

Events in the data

The game draws real events from these records, so a life lived here can meet them.

Reported COVID-19 deaths, 2020 to 20247,475Our World in Data, from WHO

Now live it.

Born in Latvia, to a family drawn from these numbers. Every life replays exactly from its seed.

Be born in Latvia

Elsewhere in Europe

All countries

How to read the sources. Every figure is sourced to a named dataset, shown beside it. A figure marked "Extrapolated" is estimated by a model because no survey covers the year. UN figures are for 2023, the latest year of UN estimates; other figures are the latest year their dataset has. Rank 1 is the highest figure among 230 countries and territories. All sources and licences