NORTHERN EUROPE

Latvia

Riga · pop. 2M · Latvian · euro

Trajectories

economic complexity

#39

Roughly steady in the rankings since 1995.

2024 · 0.73

Harvard Growth Lab · thin line is the world’s median

the numbers30

when	value	change
1995	0.68
1996	0.60	−0.08 pts
1997	0.60	0 pts
1998	0.59	−0.02 pts
1999low	0.52	−0.07 pts
2000	0.55	+0.03 pts
2001	0.59	+0.04 pts
2002	0.63	+0.04 pts
2003	0.69	+0.06 pts
2004	0.71	+0.02 pts
2005	0.69	−0.02 pts
2006	0.70	+0.01 pts
2007	0.71	+0.01 pts
2008	0.74	+0.02 pts
2009	0.71	−0.03 pts
2010	0.75	+0.04 pts
2011	0.79	+0.04 pts
2012	0.79	+0.01 pts
2013	0.78	−0.01 pts
2014	0.76	−0.02 pts
2015	0.78	+0.02 pts
2016	0.77	−0.02 pts
2017high	0.82	+0.05 pts
2018	0.79	−0.03 pts
2019	0.80	+0.01 pts
2020	0.80	0 pts
2021	0.82	+0.02 pts
2022	0.79	−0.03 pts
2023	0.76	−0.03 pts
2024latest	0.73	−0.03 pts

economic momentum

$23.4K

Quadrupled since 2000. GDP per head in 2024, in current US dollars.

2024 · $23.4K

World Bank · thin line is the world’s median

the numbers30

when	value	change
1995low	$2,257
1996	$2,360	+4.6%
1997	$2,610	+10.6%
1998	$2,894	+10.9%
1999	$3,064	+5.9%
2000	$3,278	+7.0%
2001	$3,505	+6.9%
2002	$4,004	+14.2%
2003	$4,915	+22.8%
2004	$6,110	+24.3%
2005	$7,284	+19.2%
2006	$9,212	+26.5%
2007	$13.4K	+45.2%
2008	$15.7K	+17.3%
2009	$12.0K	−23.5%
2010	$11.2K	−6.7%
2011	$12.9K	+15.3%
2012	$13.3K	+3.3%
2013	$14.5K	+8.7%
2014	$15.2K	+4.8%
2015	$13.3K	−12.3%
2016	$13.8K	+3.9%
2017	$15.1K	+9.4%
2018	$17.3K	+14.0%
2019	$17.3K	+0.2%
2020	$17.6K	+1.6%
2021	$20.3K	+15.4%
2022	$20.2K	−0.2%
2023	$22.7K	+12.3%
2024latest	$23.4K	+3.1%

prices

1.3%

A year’s rise in consumer prices, in 2024. The world’s median was 3.1%.

2024 · 1.3%

World Bank · thin line is the world’s median

the numbers33

when	value	change
1992high	952%
1993	109%	−843 pts
1994	35.9%	−73.1 pts
1995	25.0%	−10.9 pts
1996	17.6%	−7.37 pts
1997	8.4%	−9.16 pts
1998	4.6%	−3.80 pts
1999	2.4%	−2.28 pts
2000	2.7%	+0.29 pts
2001	2.5%	−0.17 pts
2002	1.9%	−0.55 pts
2003	2.9%	+1.00 pts
2004	6.2%	+3.25 pts
2005	6.7%	+0.56 pts
2006	6.5%	−0.21 pts
2007	10.1%	+3.56 pts
2008	15.4%	+5.31 pts
2009	3.5%	−11.9 pts
2010low	−1.1%	−4.62 pts
2011	4.4%	+5.46 pts
2012	2.3%	−2.11 pts
2013	−0.0%	−2.29 pts
2014	0.6%	+0.65 pts
2015	0.2%	−0.45 pts
2016	0.1%	−0.03 pts
2017	2.9%	+2.79 pts
2018	2.5%	−0.40 pts
2019	2.8%	+0.28 pts
2020	0.2%	−2.59 pts
2021	3.3%	+3.06 pts
2022	17.3%	+14.0 pts
2023	8.9%	−8.37 pts
2024latest	1.3%	−7.67 pts

demographic curve

1.2 children per woman

Far below replacement: rapid ageing ahead.

2024 · 1.2

World Bank · thin line is the world’s median · rule marks replacement (2.1)

the numbers65

when	value	change
1960	1.9
1961	1.9	0.0%
1962	1.9	−1.5%
1963	1.9	−3.1%
1964	1.8	−3.2%
1965	1.7	−2.8%
1966	1.8	+1.1%
1967	1.8	+2.3%
1968	1.8	+1.7%
1969	1.9	+2.7%
1970	2.0	+4.3%
1971	2.0	+2.0%
1972	2.0	0.0%
1973	2.0	−1.0%
1974	2.0	−0.5%
1975	2.0	−0.5%
1976	1.9	−1.5%
1977	1.9	−2.1%
1978	1.9	−1.1%
1979	1.9	0.0%
1980	1.9	−0.5%
1981	1.9	+1.1%
1982	2.0	+4.8%
1983	2.1	+5.1%
1984	2.1	+1.0%
1985	2.1	−0.5%
1986	2.1	+1.9%
1987high	2.1	+1.4%
1988	2.1	−1.9%
1989	2.0	−2.8%
1990	2.0	−1.5%
1991	1.9	−7.9%
1992	1.7	−7.0%
1993	1.5	−12.7%
1994	1.4	−7.9%
1995	1.3	−10.1%
1996	1.2	−7.2%
1997	1.1	−4.3%
1998low	1.1	−1.8%
1999	1.2	+6.4%
2000	1.3	+7.8%
2001	1.2	−2.4%
2002	1.3	+3.3%
2003	1.3	+4.8%
2004	1.3	−2.3%
2005	1.4	+7.8%
2006	1.5	+5.0%
2007	1.5	+5.5%
2008	1.6	+2.6%
2009	1.5	−7.6%
2010	1.4	−6.8%
2011	1.3	−2.2%
2012	1.4	+8.3%
2013	1.5	+5.6%
2014	1.6	+8.6%
2015	1.7	+3.0%
2016	1.7	+2.4%
2017	1.7	−2.9%
2018	1.6	−5.3%
2019	1.6	+0.6%
2020	1.6	−3.7%
2021	1.6	+1.3%
2022	1.5	−6.4%
2023	1.4	−7.5%
2024latest	1.2	−8.8%

Metrics

population

2M

149 of 176

REST Countries · UN data
gdp

$43B

95 of 170

World Bank · latest available
gdp per capita

$22,710

44 of 170

World Bank · latest available
military spending

$1B

75 of 151

SIPRI via World Bank
military % of gdp

3.0%

24 of 148

SIPRI via World Bank
area

65K km²

125 of 176

REST Countries
population density

30.8 /km²

126 of 176

zuhd — derived from population and area
life expectancy

75.7 yr

72 of 175

World Bank · latest available
internet access

92%

35 of 166

ITU via World Bank
co₂ per capita

3.6 t

69 of 163

World Bank · Climate Watch
urbanisation

68%

71 of 168

World Bank · UN DESA
fertility rate

1.2

157 of 168

World Bank · UN DESA
foreign-born share

12%

41 of 167

World Bank · UN DESA
remittances % of gdp

3.1%

65 of 155

World Bank · IMF BOP
r&d % of gdp

0.8%

45 of 123

UNESCO UIS via World Bank
researchers per million

2,191

38 of 118

UNESCO UIS via World Bank
scientific articles / yr

1.7K

74 of 168

NSF / World Bank
high-tech exports %

17%

36 of 153

World Bank · UN Comtrade
gini inequality

34.0

66 of 139

World Bank · PovcalNet
youth unemployment

13%

86 of 166

ILO via World Bank
democracy (v-dem)

0.75

20 of 163

V-Dem via Our World in Data
clean government

59

32 of 164

Transparency International via Our World in Data
press freedom

19.3

21 of 163

RSF via Our World in Data
human development

0.889

35 of 164

UNDP via Our World in Data
refugees hosted

49K

63 of 150

UNHCR via Our World in Data
refugees produced

179

119 of 152

UNHCR via Our World in Data

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