More than half of Latvia residents would like to live in Riga and other larger cities
Given the choice, more than a half of economically active Latvia residents would like to live in larger cities, 31% of them in Riga, and 24% – in other larger cities in Latvia.
This has been shown by the survey conducted by real estate company Ektornet and market research company TNS.There are key differences in what location of residence is preferred according to which language is spoken in the family of the resident: be it Latvian or another language. Half (50%) of all the economically active residents of Latvia who speak another language would like to choose the capital as their place of living. The residents who speak Latvian would prefer rural areas comparatively more often (40%), while less than one fifth of these residents would want to live in Riga (18%). Furthermore, it is worth noting that those speaking other languages would more often choose Latgale (19%) as a region to live in, while the Latvian-speaking families would prefer Kurzeme (19%) and Vidzeme (17%).
"This study shows that the people are not inclined towards great changes, and, given the choice, the solid majority would stay where they already live – this is particularly true for those who live in Riga and in the rural areas," points out Intars Āboms, client manager at TNS market research company.
An interesting fact is that Riga, as the preferred place to live in, is typically mentioned by single people, while the rural areas are preferred comparatively more often by those respondents, who live in families of four and more.
Moreover, there are notable differences in different age groups. Thus, young adults (18–24 years old) would choose rural areas comparatively less often, while the 45–59 age group is their exact opposite: they would rather choose rural areas as their location of residence.
The study by Ektornet and TNS was conducted via the internet between 19 and 24 March 2014, with 1000 residents of Latvia from all its regions, aged 18–59, surveyed. The TNS internet study is representative of the whole population of Latvia between the ages of 18 and 59. The study sample is based on random selection, thus excluding deliberate applications for the sample. The internet study organisation procedure at TNS strictly follows the ESOMAR guidelines for designing and conducting internet surveys.