Due to ongoing demographic trends, the municipality of Daugavpils will soon have to reassess its network of pre-school education institutions, municipal officials say.
In recent years, falling birth rates have led to a significant decline in the number of children enrolled in the city’s kindergartens. Data compiled by the Daugavpils Department of Education, Youth and Sports show that over the past four academic years, the number of children in pre-school education has dropped by 18.3%, or 790 pupils.
In the 2022/2023 academic year, a total of 4,308 children attended pre-school institutions in the city. In 2023/2024, this number fell by 6.7% to 4,019 pupils, followed by a further 7.8% decrease in the 2024/2025 academic year, bringing the total down to 3,705 children. In the current 2025/2026 academic year, the number of children in pre-school education stands at 3,518, which is 5.1% fewer than a year earlier.
Civil Registry Office data show a sharp decline in births as well. In 2019, 662 newborns were registered in Daugavpils, but by 2025 the number of newborns had fallen by 34.7%.
Based on birth rate trends,
the municipality forecasts a continued and significant reduction in the number of children attending pre-school
institutions in the coming years. This decline is further exacerbated by migration, as residents move to other municipalities or abroad.
“Demographic trends indicate that in the coming years the municipality will need to reassess the development of the pre-school education network and the planning of resources, taking into account the declining number of children,” the local government stresses.
As previously reported, birth rates in Daugavpils have experienced a dramatic downturn over the past decade, with the total number of newborns falling by nearly 45%. In 2025, 432 children were born in the city—58 fewer than in 2024—according to the Civil Registry Office.
By comparison, 778 children were born in 2016, and 2017 marked the highest figure of the decade, with 796 newborns. Since then, birth rates have steadily declined: 674 births were registered in 2018, 662 in 2019, and 627 in 2020. The downward trend continued in subsequent years, with 612 births in 2021, 543 in 2022, 485 in 2023, and 490 in 2024.
Daugavpils continues to experience negative natural population growth, as mortality rates significantly exceed birth rates. In 2025, 810 deaths were registered in the city. Although mortality has shown a gradual decline in recent years, it still remains nearly twice as high as the number of births. For instance, 1,290 deaths were recorded in 2021, followed by 1,114 in 2022, 901 in 2023, and 801 in 2024.
Municipal officials note that the decline in births is driven by overall population ageing, as well as a shrinking number of residents of reproductive age—factors linked to demographic developments over previous decades and ongoing migration.
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