Latvians in the United Kingdom

Latvians in the United Kingdom are those born or raised in the UK, or residents, who are of ethnically Latvian descent or originate from Latvia, a country in North-Eastern Europe.

History, population and settlement


In the early 20th century, Latvian workers began to settle in Glasgow. Notable groups of Latvian-born migrants historically also included people of Latvian Jewish, Baltic German and Latvian Russian origin.

Significant numbers of Latvians moved to the UK after World War 2 in 1947 under a government backed scheme called Westward Ho. The first group of displaced persons (DPs) from the British zone of occupation of Germany arrived in the UK in 1947, called the Balt Cygnets.

The 2001 UK Census had recorded 4,275 UK residents born in Latvia.

Another wave of Latvian migration to the United Kingdom came after the accession of Latvia to the European Union, of which the UK was then part, in 2004.

The 2011 UK Census already recorded 53,977 Latvian-born residents in England, 692 in Wales, 4,475 in Scotland, and 2,297 in Northern Ireland.

In 2021, there were approximately 90,000 Latvian nationals estimated to be residing in the United Kingdom. Historically, the highest estimated number of Latvian nationals residing in the United Kingdom was in 2017, when there were 117,000.

There is a Latvian section at the Brookwood cemetery near London.

Notable British people of Latvian descent
See Category:British people of Latvian descent
 * Martin Blunos, TV chef
 * Leonard Fenton, actor, director and painter
 * Dora Gaitskell, Baroness Gaitskell, Labour Party politician
 * Gustav Holst, composer
 * Anatol Lieven, journalist and policy analyst
 * Arnold Mikelson, artist
 * Viktoria Modesta, singer-songwriter
 * Imants Priede, zoologist