Population Development in Latvia

Latvia has experienced an unusual pattern of population development. The demographic transition in the Baltic provinces of Russia began earlier than in other parts of tsarist Russia. Here, the demographic trends have been historically West-European rather than East-European. A notable decrease of fertility, including marital fertility, as well as of the natural growth of population, began in the last third of the 19th century. Since the middle of the 1920s, fertility has been under replacement level.