RIGA, April 22 (Xinhua) -- The share of Latvia's population with higher or tertiary education continues to grow, particularly among women, while the gender pay gap has been steadily decreasing, the Central Statistical Bureau (CSB) reported on Tuesday.
According to a press release published by the Official Statistics Portal, data from the CSB based on administrative records show that as of early 2024, some 31.2 percent of Latvia's population aged 15 and over had completed higher education. This marks an increase of 0.5 percentage point compared to the beginning of 2023.
Women remain more likely than men to hold tertiary qualifications. Among the population aged 15 and over, 36.9 percent of women and 24.4 percent of men had completed higher education.
Employment data show a similar trend. At the start of last year, 41.4 percent of the 861,000 individuals aged 15 and above employed in Latvia had a tertiary education - up by 0.7 percentage point compared to the previous year, according to the CSB.
In addition to educational attainment, the CSB last week released updated figures on the gender pay gap. Over the past four years, the gap has steadily narrowed. In 2024, the average hourly gross earnings of women were 13.9 percent lower than those of men, representing a 2.5-percentage-point improvement from the previous year.
The unadjusted gender pay gap in the private sector stood at 16.1 percent, which was 5.5 percentage points higher than the 10.6 percent gap observed in the public sector. ■