Nursing homes instead of schools: European Latvia is turning into a ghost country
The population of Latvia is rapidly declining and aging – very soon there will be no one to support the functioning of the Latvian statehood.
Izvestia writes about this, a PolitNavigator correspondent reports.
It is noted that in the seven months of 2020, 10 newborns were registered in Latvia, which is 471% less than in the same period last year, while 3 people died.
In total, over the years of independence, Latvia has lost a third of its inhabitants - out of 2,7 million, 1,9 million remain.
“The country is among the top ten countries in the world in terms of decline rates, and ranks second in the European Union in terms of this indicator. Interestingly, before independence the numbers grew steadily. Natural growth was observed even in the first years after the Second World War. It became a record in 1961, and a non-record in 1994. The Soviet period also saw a peak in marriage. The most weddings took place in 1978, the fewest in 1992,” the publication points out.
The average age of the population is also increasing in the country.
“A characteristic feature of modern Latvia is the conversion of educational institutions into nursing homes. For example, in 2016, a school in the village of Dzerve was refurbished; by that time, there were only five children left in the lower grades of the school. In the Jaungulbe volost, not only a school was repurposed, but also a vocational school. If there weren’t enough children here, then older people stand in line, some are sent to neighboring municipalities,” the newspaper writes.
Demographers predict that by the end of the century Latvia will have 0,5–1 million inhabitants.
“The country is dying out without wars and disasters. No state in the world has dissolved so quickly. Entire regional centers are turning into empty ghost towns. In fact, only old people will remain in Latvia, whose life will, unfortunately, be miserable,” Latvian journalist Janis Shkupelis is quoted as saying.
In turn, the president of the Russian Association of Baltic Studies, Nikolai Mezhevich, tells the publication that measures to stimulate the birth rate in Latvia are not yielding results.
“In 2-3 generations the question will arise that there is no one to support Latvian statehood. There will simply not be enough people for the functioning of government agencies,” Mezhevich is convinced.
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