Analytics, Baltic States – CIS, Latvia, Society

The study looks at the implementation of the 2012-2018 National Identity, Civil Society and Integration Policy between 2012 and 2014.

In 2007, only half or 51% of residents had a positive attitude toward members of other nationalities. In 2008, 50.4% of Latvian-speaking residents and 86.3% of Russian-speaking residents said they had a positive attitude toward people of other nationalities. In 2014, the proportion of Latvian-speaking residents who felt comfortable around people of other nationalities increased by four%, while the proportion Russian-speaking residents fell by approximately two%.

The study finds that the number of non-citizens keeps decreasing in Latvia with every year. The main reasons for this are mortality rate and taking up the citizenship of another country – most often Russian citizenship. In 2009, non-citizens accounted for 14.61% of population, while in 2014 – 12.67%. The number of naturalized persons has been decreasing. In 2009, a total of 2,336 persons took up the citizenship of Latvia, while in 2014 – 939.