Where is it good to live in Latvia? Regions measured their standard of living

Marupe Emirates

The Latvian Central Statistical Office began to publish data on the gross domestic product, which is created in the regions of the country. This has not been done before. European statistics, by the way, also divide the entire EU into hundreds of regions, the level of development of which is easy to compare, having such figures in hand. But in European data, Latvia is classified as one region due to its modest size. Now this gap has been filled.

Here is the data. According to the CSO, Latvia’s GDP at current prices in 2021 amounted to 33.3 billion euros. More than half of the total GDP generated (52.9%) was in Riga, and Riga, together with the Riga region, accounted for two-thirds (68.8%) of Latvia’s total GDP.

Kurzeme accounted for 9.3% of the country’s GDP, 8.1% for Zemgale, 7% for Vidzeme, 6.6% for Latgale. If we consider GDP per capita, then in Riga in 2021 it amounted to 28.9 thousand euros, and in the Latgale region – only 8.8 thousand euros. The difference between the development of Riga and Latgale was 3.3 times.

In 2021, the highest GDP per capita was in the Marupe region – 30.2 thousand euros, followed by Riga with 28.9 thousand euros, and in third place was the Ropaz region – 23.4 thousand euros. The GDP per capita of 17.7 thousand euros was also higher than the Latvian average in the Valmiera, Kekava and Smiltene regions.

In 2021, GDP per capita in all other administrative units of Latvia was below the Latvian average. In Jurmala and Ogre, as well as in the Limbaži, Varaklya, Tukums, Bauska, Valka, Aluksne, Ogre and Ludza regions, the average GDP per capita was below 10 thousand euros, and in the Preili, Kraslava, Rezekne, Balvi and Augšdaugava regions the average GDP was per capita was below 8 thousand euros.

Unhappy land

“If the capital’s standard of living, assessed by GDP per capita, corresponds to what is available in Italy, Spain, Malta and Cyprus, then in the Augsdaugava district (former Daugavpils district) it is close to North Macedonia and Bosnia-Herzegovina,” one laments. well-known commentator in Latvia.

“In 2021, the gross domestic product (GDP) per capita in Kuwait was 27.3 thousand euros, while in Marup it was much higher – 30.2 thousand euros. In 2021, South Korea also lagged behind Marupe – 29.7 thousand euros per capita. At the same time, the average GDP per capita in the Augšdaugava region was somewhere between the indicators of Belarus and Moldova,” writes another.

Land of contrasts

It is, of course, very sad that there is such a gap in the standard of living in Latvia. But on the other hand, it’s not bad that there are places in the country where life is no worse than in Italy and Spain. Of course, ideally everyone should live equally richly. But we can’t do it. Just as it does not work in many other states, where the standard of living differs from region to region.

Let’s take, for example, the fabulous country of Belgium, where some Latvian politicians fly to earn huge salaries. According to Eurostat, in the Brussels region, GDP per capita in terms of purchasing power parity was 69.5 thousand euros in 2022, and in the southern Belgian region of Hainaut – 26.1 thousand euros. The difference is 2.66 times.

Let’s take the Czech Republic. In Prague, GDP per person is 73.4 thousand euros, and in the northwestern region of the country – 14.1 thousand euros. The difference is 5.2 times. At the same time, the Czech Republic is considered the fairest country in the EU in terms of distribution of national wealth. It also has the lowest poverty rate in the European Union.

But in Germany, yes, the regions are developed more or less equally. The richest of them is Hamburg – 69.1 thousand euros per capita (PPP). The poorest is the region of Lüneburg, whose capital of the same name is located only 50 km southeast of the same Hamburg. Here the population is content with only 29.3 thousand euros of GDP per person. The difference is still significant – 2.3 times.

In general, not only New York and Riga are cities of contrasts, but practically the entire European Union.

How do you like this result?

Let us also note that 660 thousand people live in Riga, and another 370 thousand people live in the Riga region. Together – 1.03 million. This is more than half the population of the entire country. Not so little. And in that very poorest Augshdaugava region, 26 thousand people live. This is less than 2% of the state’s population. The difference is significant, isn’t it?

Thirty years after the collapse of the USSR, half of the population reached Italy and Spain. This is probably a good result. We will not compare today’s Latvia with the standard of living of Soviet times – these are different worlds.

Approach wisely

Of course, the above statistics must be approached wisely. For example, Jurmala appears in it as a poor city, where GDP per capita is significantly lower than the national average. Those who have been to this resort city may, however, doubt these statistics after seeing what the settlement looks like, what kind of people are hanging out there, what kind of mansions are built and what kind of cars are parked near them.

Most likely, the fact is that in Jurmala there are no production facilities or offices, where most of the wealth of post-industrial countries is forged, which means there is no decent GDP. But this does not prevent Jurmala residents from extracting this GDP in other places and spending it in their hometown.

We’ll have to share

The difference in living standards in individual regions of Latvia is visible to the naked eye. But there is no need to cover your head with ashes, because this problem also exists in other countries, and in many places it is much more acute than in the Republic of Latvia.

This, of course, does not mean that you can rest on your laurels. The population of the Latvian province also deserves a normal life, and it infuriates them when the center does not think so. The latest school reform, and in fact the closure of rural schools, clearly showed this. Such a riot has not been seen in Latvia for a long time. So rich Riga and the Riga region will have to help these people, including in the maintenance of educational institutions. Sooner or later we will also have to solve the neglected demographic problem, which also contributes to the stagnation of regional development. But this is a topic for another story.