On Thursday, 12 December, from 10:15 to 16:00, Central Statistical Bureau (CSB) held a live-streamed conference Territorial Statistics and Applications Thereof. The live broadcast was available on the CSB website and news agency LETA website, the conference recording is currently available in LETA YouTube channel. The conference was opened by Raimonds Lapiņš, CSB Director General, Gundars Bērziņš, Rector of the University of Latvia, and Zaiga Krišjāne, Acting Dean of the Faculty of Science and Technology at the University of Latvia.
CSB experts presented the possibilities of analysing Territorial Economic Development (TED) data, showcasing the ways how detailed data can support the work of municipalities and territorial planners. The TED data merge economic indicators for place of residence, workplace, and commuting flows and are complemented by maps and summaries, enabling economic development assessments at regional, municipal and sub-municipal level.
‘The growing need for timely and detailed data in the territorial development planning requires continuous collaboration between statisticians and data owners. It also sets new work directions (e.g., energy efficiency and climate change), prompting the search for new data sources and development of more advanced calculation methods,’ explains Raimonds Lapiņš, Director General of the CSB. ‘Territorial statistics is a proactive solution to the data needs in municipalities, offering both traditional and innovative approaches tailored to the requirements of modern development planning.’
Residents of Salaspils municipality work and live in the same municipality the least often
At least 82 % of the employed residents from the largest municipalities – Riga, Daugavpils, Liepāja, and Ventspils – worked and lived in the same municipality in 2022. The highest commuter migration was observed around Riga – in Salaspils, Ropaži, and Saulkrasti municipalities, where the proportion of employees who worked and lived in the same municipality did not exceed one third. Moreover, more than a half of the residents in these municipalities had workplace in Riga.
In terms of economic activities engaging workforce in a municipality, Mārupe stands out. Manufacturing, wholesale and retail trade, agriculture, forestry and fishing are the largest economic activities at national level, however the dominant sector in Mārupe is transportation and storage, engaging 33 % of the employed persons.
In summary, conference participants had the opportunity to learn more about innovative approaches to using territorial statistics as well as to attend panel discussions with industry experts, exploring the latest opportunities and challenges in calculating and producing territorial statistics.
The conference was organised and the territorial statistics was produced within the framework of the EU co-funded project Geospatial and Descriptive Statistics for Place of Residence, Workplace and Commuting Flows.