Almost 40% of Latvians gave money to support Ukraine or war refugees

In the latest survey, 38.7% of respondents indicated that they made donations to support Ukraine or war refugees, while in April last year this answer was given by 41.9%, and in 2022 – 39.2% of survey participants.

Donations were made by 52.4% of survey participants of Latvian nationality, and 19.1% of survey participants of other nationalities. Compared to the survey conducted a year ago, the share of Latvians who made donations decreased by 3.9 percentage points, and the share of representatives of other nationalities by 2.2 percentage points.

Surveys conducted over the past three years also show that young people are consistently the most active donors to Ukraine and its people.

This year, 52.9% of Latvian residents aged 18 to 24 years old made donations, and 47.8% of those aged 25 to 34 years old made donations. At the same time, the share of philanthropists in other age groups ranges from 30% to 38%.

At the same time, the most active donors are people with higher education – 46.8%.

Residents of Vidzeme donated the most to support Ukraine or refugees – 46.8% of respondents. They are followed by Zemgale (41.1%) and Riga region (41%).

Over the year, the share of residents who refused to purchase certain goods for political reasons remained virtually unchanged, that is, they refused to purchase certain goods either because of the country of origin, or because the manufacturer did not stop cooperation with Russia. Such an action was indicated by 31.8% of participants in this year’s survey, which is 0.1 percentage point more than a year ago. Among them, 46.1% of Latvians and 11.2% of Latvian residents of other nationalities did this.

Also, young people tend to refuse to purchase goods for political reasons. This action was indicated by 53.8% of survey participants aged 18 to 24 years and 44.4% of those aged 25 to 34 years.

The survey was conducted in April 2024 and involved more than 1,000 permanent residents of Latvia.