Latvians in Sweden

Ethnic group

Latvians in Sweden
Total population
9,288 (by birth)
Regions with significant populations
Stockholm, Gotland, Skåne, larger cities
Languages
Swedish, Latvian
Related ethnic groups
Balts

Latvian Swedes (Swedish: svenskletter; Latvian: Zviedrijas latvieši) are Swedes of full or partial Latvian descent residing in Sweden. In 21st century people of Latvian diaspora without Swedish citizenship reside legally in Sweden as well. In 2020, there were 9,288 Latvian-born people living in Sweden.^[1] Parts of Latvia, Swedish Livonia, was a Swedish dominion in the 17th century.^[2]

Around 6,000 Latvian nationals fled to Sweden following the World War II,^[2] a total of 3,418 officially registered in 1945.^[3]

Historical population
Year	Pop.	±%
2000	2,305	—
2001	2,349	+1.9%
2002	2,421	+3.1%
2003	2,482	+2.5%
2004	2,581	+4.0%
2005	2,715	+5.2%
2006	2,954	+8.8%
2007	3,122	+5.7%
2008	3,344	+7.1%
2009	4,116	+23.1%
2010	4,686	+13.8%
2011	5,304	+13.2%
2012	5,775	+8.9%
2013	6,096	+5.6%
2014	6,527	+7.1%
2015	7,026	+7.6%
2016	7,569	+7.7%
2017	7,973	+5.3%
2018	8,226	+3.2%
2019	8,621	+4.8%
2020	8,798	+2.1%
2021	9,288	+5.6%
2022	10,323	+11.1%
Latvian-born people living in Sweden, excluding Latvian nationals born in Sweden to Latvian-born parents. Source: Statistics Sweden

Notable people

See also the categories Swedish people of Latvian descent, Latvian emigrants to Sweden, and Latvian expatriates in Sweden

Janis Bubenko (born 1935), computer scientist
Laila Freivalds (born 1942), politician
Kārlis Princis (1893–1978), biologist
Velta Rūķe-Draviņa (1917–2003), linguist and folklorist
Lars Vilks (1946–2021), visual artist

References

^ "Folkmängden efter födelseland, ålder och kön. År 2000 - 2020". Statistikdatabasen. Retrieved 2021-09-17.
^ ^a ^b "Lettland". Regeringskansliet (in Swedish). 2015-01-07. Retrieved 2022-06-30.
^ Lulle, Aija (2022-03-07). "latvieši ārzemēs". enciklopedija.lv (in Latvian). Retrieved 2022-06-30.