In recent years, the number of Latvian residents who feel completely free has been shrinking, according to a survey conducted by the market and public opinion research centre SKDS.

As reported by SKDS director Arnis Kaktiņš, only 10% of Latvian residents felt completely or to a very large extent free in February of this year, whereas in 2015, more people – 14% of those surveyed – identified themselves as such.

Survey participants were asked to rate on a scale from 0 to 10 how free they feel in life to do everything they want, where 0 means a person feels very restricted, and 10 – that they have the opportunity to do absolutely everything they wish.

This year, 5.8% and 4.6% of those surveyed rated their freedom as 9 and 10, respectively, while in 2015, 7.7% and 6.5% of respondents did so. These are classified in the survey as "free people". Most often – in 19.3% of cases – respondents this year rated their freedom with a 7, 17.1% – with a 5, 14.6% – with a 6, and 14.5% – with an 8. A total of 1.2% of respondents rated their freedom of action with marks of 0 and 1 respectively. (...)