In all 65.3 thousand people aged 15–74 were unemployed in 2024, an increase of 3.8 thousand (6.2 %) over the year.
The unemployment rate for women was lower than for men (5.8 % and 8.0 % respectively). However, with a youth unemployment rate of 13.6 %, Latvia had the lowest youth unemployment among the Baltic countries for a second year in a row.
In the fourth quarter (Q4) of 2024, Latvia had an unemployment rate of 6.9 %, which is 0.2 percentage points higher than in Q3 2024. The number of unemployed persons totalled 63.8 thousand, which is 0.8 thousand people (1.3 %) more than in Q3 2024.
Compared to Q3 2024, in Q4 2024 the number of unemployed men grew by 0.5 thousand (1.3 %) and of unemployed women by 0.4 thousand (1.4 %).
In Q3 2024 Latvian unemployment rate (6.7 %) was 0.9 percentage points above the EU average (5.8 %). In Q4 2024, it was 6.9 % and was lower than in Estonia (7.4 %) but higher than in Lithuania (6.5 %).
In 2024, 31.3 % of the population aged 15–74 were classed as inactive, i.e., were neither in employment, nor actively looking for a job (totalling 429.3 thousand people, including 159.8 thousand in the age group 65–74 who represent 37.2 % of the total inactive population). Over the year inactive population reduced by 2.7 thousand people (0.6 %).
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