Investing in youth is key for fixing Latvia’s demographics

By Sebastian Königs. Latvia faces a huge demographic challenge. Since restoration of its independence in 1991, the country lost more than a quarter of its resident population. In 2015, the population dropped below 2 million for the first time since the 1950s, down from 2.7 million in 1989. 
The drivers of this trend are twofold: Fertility rates plummeted during the transition years in the early 1990s, andremain worryingly low even today. More importantly, however, Latvians have been leaving their country in scores, attracted by greater job opportunities and higher wages paid in the UK, Ireland or elsewhere in Europe. More...