A total of 14,450 residents of Latvia moved abroad permanently last year, according to data compiled by the Office of Citizenship and Migration Affairs (Pilsonības un migrācijas lietu pārvalde, or PMLP).
More than half of those, the office reported in a March 8 press release, moved to Great Britain and Ireland.
In all, a total of 72,292 former residents of Latvia now list their permanent residence abroad, according to the PMLP. However, the total number of residents who have moved abroad is much greater. According to the 2011 census, some 190,000 people have left Latvia since 2000.
The PMLP press release noted that some Latvian residents have chosen to move to “exotic” locations, such as Macedonia, Ghana, Jordan and Iraq.
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From an original population of 2.6 million in the Republic of Latvia in 1991, 600,000 have fled the country according to the government. Rumor is that the actual number is 800,000. I meet lots of these expatriates in Western Europe and they say they cannot live in Latvia because the corrupt Oligarch Government has destroyed the economy. What is easier? 800,000 people fleeing the country? Or, Latvia arresting the top dozen oligarchs? I favor the second choice.