Women in Latvia

Women in Latvia
General Statistics
Maternal mortality (per 100,000)18 (2019)
Women in parliament31% (2019)[1]
Women over 25 with secondary education100.0% (2019)
Women in labour force70.7% (employment rate OECD definition, 2019)[2]
Gender Inequality Index[3]
Value0.151 (2021)
Rank40th out of 191
Global Gender Gap Index[4]
Value0.771 (2022)
Rank26th out of 146

Women in Latvia refers to all the women who reside in, come from and were born in Latvia. The social and legal status of women in the Latvian society has been influenced by its history, geopolitical location and culture. The status of women in Latvia has undergone many changes through history, especially as its territories were a frequent focal point for conflict and conquest between at least four major powers: the State of the Teutonic Order, the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth, Sweden and Russian Empire. In the 20th century, Latvia was part of the Soviet Union, it then underwent a period of socioeconomic turmoil in the 1990s, after which it joined the European Union in 2004.

Latvia, although a small country of less than 2 million, is a multi-ethnic country,[5] and therefore the experiences of women of Latvia may differ between various groups.

  1. ^ "Women in politics: 2019".
  2. ^ "LFS by sex and age - indicators".
  3. ^ "Human Development Report 2021/2022" (PDF). HUMAN DEVELOPMENT REPORTS. Retrieved 14 November 2022.
  4. ^ "Global Gender Gap Report 2022" (PDF). World Economic Forum. Retrieved 10 February 2023.
  5. ^ The population is: Latvian 62.2%, Russian 25.2%, Belarusian 3.2%, Ukrainian 2.2%, Polish 2.1%, Lithuanian 1.2%, other 1.5%, unspecified 2.3% (2018 est.),[1]