Analytics, Latvia, Legislation, Pensioners, Society

At the beginning of 2017, Latvia had a population of 1.95 million, of which 388,000 were people aged 65 years and older.

Since early 2010, the number of Latvia's population has declined by 170,000 or 8% but the number of people aged over 65 years has increased by 4,000 or 1%.

At the beginning of 2017, men made up 46% and women 54% of Latvia's population, but in the age group over 65 years the proportion is 33% of men and 67% of women.

Among the population aged over 65 years, 66% of men and 28% of women were married, 15% of men were widowers and 44% of women were widows while 13% of men and 20% of women were divorced in the early 2017. About 2% of couples entering into marriage in Latvia every year are aged over 65 years.

Life expectancy of women in Latvia is nearly 10 years longer than in case of men. In the EU, such serious gender difference in life expectancy is typical only for the Baltic states, and so is the great disproportion between the numbers of men and women aged over 65 years.