Analytics, Demography, Latvia, Society

"We can clearly see this even without the census data. The most noticeable example is the number of public transport passengers. We have free tickets and discounts, however, public transport company's indices are not improving as fewer people are paying fares, as there are fewer overall," Riga Mayor Nils Usakovs (Harmony Center) told LETA.

Usakovs does not have precise data on how many people live in Riga at the moment, however, their number may have reduced by 15% from 2000, dropping bellow 700,000 and nearing 600,000.

Nevertheless, this information will not affect the municipality's budget forecasts, since they are based on the number of people employed in Riga.

"The number of people living near Riga has increased. It seems that it is the only region in Latvia where the number of residents has grown," admitted Usakovs.

"The situation is ambiguous. These people are obviously working in Riga, using the city's infrastructure, public transportation, but they pay taxes to other local governments around Riga. Other cities and the local governments in their vicinity have similar issues," pointed out Usakovs.

As reported, Latvia's population as of March 1, 2011 was 2,067,887, according to preliminary population census data released by the Central Statistical Bureau.

Since the 2000 census, Latvia's population has reduced by 13% or 309,000 persons. In 2000, Latvia had a population of 2,377,385.