Because of the war in Ukraine, residents of Latvia are sleeping poorly

Three out of four Latvians, or 75%, have experienced various sleep disturbances, such as insomnia, waking up at night, feeling unwell or having bad dreams, over the past month, according to a survey conducted by research company Kantar.

Half or 49% of the population experience sleep disturbances one or more times a week, or even every night, while 18% report experiencing them several times a month. Only every fifth resident of Latvia, or 19%, did not experience sleep disturbances during the last month.

According to survey respondents, one of the biggest recent geopolitical upheavals that has affected the population of Latvia is the war in Ukraine. The data revealed a correlation in that, on average, sleep disturbances were more often felt by those groups of the population whose emotional state was affected by the war in Ukraine to a very large or significant extent.

Survey data shows that the number of Latvian residents who have experienced sleep disturbances in the past month has increased significantly from 70% to 75% over two years, with a corresponding decrease in the proportion of the population who have not experienced these disturbances.

The survey also found a correlation in that young people aged 18-24 were more likely than other age groups to have experienced sleep disturbances one or more times a week, or even every night, over the past month.

Data show that Latvians experienced sleep disturbances relatively more often than Russians or residents of other nationalities, one to several times a week or even every night. At the same time, residents of Russian or other nationalities more often than Latvians admitted that they did not experience sleep disturbances.