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Latvia sees high rates of obesity, smoking and alcohol consumption. In turn, this results in a high incidence of preventable diseases, such as heart disease, diabetes and many cancers. This puts a burden on a health system which is already operating on a very tight budget as compared to other OECD countries. This OECD report shows that Latvia has many of the policies it needs to address these problems in place. However, Latvia needs to go further to ensure the health system can effectively prevent diseases, not just cure them. This will require redesigning policies to reach a larger population and efforts to educate the population to understand how to protect their health. Better screening programmes are needed, as is a stronger primary care sector, and access to essential medicines for all Latvians.

This country policy profile on education in Latvia is part of the Education Policy Outlook series. Building on the first policy profile for Latvia (2017), it offers a concise analysis of where the education system stands today in terms of strengths, challenges and ongoing policy efforts, and how this compares to other systems. The profile brings together over a decade’s worth of policy analysis by the Education Policy Outlook, as well as the latest OECD data, relevant thematic and country-specific work and other international and national evidence. It also offers analysis of the Latvian education system’s initial responses to the COVID-19 crisis and provides insight into approaches to building greater responsiveness and resilience for the future

The COVID-19 crisis has had a profound impact on SME access to finance. In particular, the sudden drop in revenues created acute liquidity shortages, threatening the survival of many viable businesses. The report documents an increase in demand for bank lending in the first half of 2020, and a steady supply of credit thanks to government interventions. On the other hand, other sources of finance declined, in particular early-stage equity. This paper, a special edition of Financing SMEs and Entrepreneurs, focuses on the impacts of COVID-19 on SME access to finance, along with government policy responses. It reveals that the pre-crisis financing environment was broadly favourable for SMEs and entrepreneurs, who benefited from low interest rates, loose credit standards and an increasingly diverse offer of financing instruments. It documents the unprecedented scope and scale of the policy responses undertaken by governments world-wide, and details their key characteristics, and outlines the principal issues and policy challenges for the next phases of the pandemic, such as the over-indebtedness of SMEs and the need to continue to foster a diverse range of financing instruments for SMEs.

In order to pave the path to future success, Latvia has developed its Education Development Guidelines 2021-2027, which identifies key policy initiatives that are critical for skills development. The Guidelines outline how Latvia will equip its citizens with skills to flourish in work and in society. Evidence on the strengths and weaknesses of Latvia’s education and skills systems has informed the prioritisation of relevant policies in the Guidelines. A wide range of Latvian actors across ministries, levels of government, education and training providers, employers, trade unions, the non-profit sector and learners have been involved in the development of the Guidelines, demonstrating their commitment to work together to implement these initiatives. Looking to the future, more can be done to position Latvia to successfully implement the policy priorities and reach the targets encompassed by the Guidelines. As the COVID-19 crisis has reminded us, the future is uncertain and therefore all plans must be designed to be responsive and adaptable to overcome future challenges and seize future opportunities. Building on the OECD Skills Strategy Assessment and Recommendations phase, the Implementation Guidance phase has supported Latvia in the development of the Education Development Guidelines 2021‑2027 by providing guidance on selecting policy actions, improving Latvia’s indicator system, and selecting performance indicators.

Mitigating climate change requires aligning real economy investments with climate objectives. This pilot study measures the climate consistency of investments in transport infrastructure and vehicles in Latvia between 2008 and 2018, estimated at EUR 1.5 billion per year on average. To do so, three complementary mitigation-related reference points are used. Applying the criteria defined by the European Union Taxonomy for Sustainable Activities results in 4.2% of investments assessed as making a substantial contribution to climate change mitigation. Comparing actual greenhouse gas trajectories for each transport mode to a 2°C scenario from the International Energy Agency’s for the European Union and to projections from Latvia’s 5th National Communication to the UNFCCC, indicates 32% climate-consistent and up to 9% climate-inconsistent investments. The majority of investments volumes could at this stage not be characterised due to limitations relating to the granularity or coverage of the reference points. Comparing current trends to 2030 and 2050 decarbonisation targets nevertheless highlights future investment and financing challenges, especially for road transport. The methodology piloted in this study can be replicated and scaled up across countries and sectors, using different or complementary reference points specifically aligned to the temperature goal of the Paris Agreement.

This paper presents and discusses the general findings and key policy messages of the 2019 OECD Open, Useful and Re-usable data (OURdata) Index, and provides a detailed analysis of the results for each pillar and sub-pillar. Additionally, it assesses the main advancements and challenges related to the design and implementation of open government data (OGD) policies in OECD member and partner countries by comparing the results for 2019 with those of the 2017 edition. This policy paper contributes to the OECD work on the digital transformation of the public sector, including digital government and data-driven public sector and open government data.

Skills are the key to shaping a better future. Skills are central to the capacity of countries and people to thrive in an increasingly interconnected and rapidly changing world. Megatrends such as globalisation, technological advance and demographic change are reshaping work and society, generating a growing demand for higher levels of skills, as well as new sets of skills. OECD Skills Strategy projects provide a strategic and comprehensive approach to assess countries’ skills challenges and opportunities, and build more effective skills systems. The OECD works collaboratively with countries to develop policy responses that are tailored to each country’s specific skills needs. The foundation of this approach is the OECD Skills Strategy framework, which allows for an exploration of what countries can do better to i) develop relevant skills over the life course, ii) use skills effectively in work and in society, and iii) strengthen the governance of the skills system. This report OECD Skills Strategy Latvia: Assessment and Recommendations identifies opportunities and makes recommendations to strengthen the skills outcomes of students, foster a culture of lifelong learning, reduce skills imbalances in the labour market, and strengthen the governance of the skills system.