Latvia - Adjusted savings: particulate emission damage (% of GNI)

Adjusted savings: particulate emission damage (% of GNI) in Latvia was 0.125 as of 2019. Its highest value over the past 24 years was 0.580 in 1995, while its lowest value was 0.110 in 2017.

Definition: Particulate emissions damage is the damage due to exposure of a country's population to ambient concentrations of particulates measuring less than 2.5 microns in diameter (PM2.5), ambient ozone pollution, and indoor concentrations of PM2.5 in households cooking with solid fuels. Damages are calculated as foregone labor income due to premature death. Estimates of health impacts from the Global Burden of Disease Study 2016. Data for other years have been extrapolated from trends in mortality rates.

Source: World Bank staff estimates based on sources and methods described in "The Changing Wealth of Nations 2018: Building a Sustainable Future" (Lange et al 2018).

See also:

Year Value
1995 0.580
1996 0.487
1997 0.396
1998 0.334
1999 0.307
2000 0.257
2001 0.251
2002 0.264
2003 0.220
2004 0.239
2005 0.241
2006 0.261
2007 0.264
2008 0.268
2009 0.236
2010 0.223
2011 0.200
2012 0.185
2013 0.167
2014 0.143
2015 0.134
2016 0.116
2017 0.110
2018 0.110
2019 0.125

Development Relevance: Air pollution places a major burden on world health. In many places, including cities but also nearby rural areas, exposure to air pollution exposure is the main environmental threat to health. Long-term exposure to high levels of fine particulates in the air contributes to a range of health effects, including respiratory diseases, lung cancer, and heart disease, resulting in 3.2 million deaths annually according to the Global Burden of Disease 2010 study. Not only does exposure to air pollution affect the health of the world’s people, it also carries huge economic costs and represents a drag on development, particularly for low and middle income countries and vulnerable segments of the population such as children and the elderly.

Limitations and Exceptions: Labor productivity losses, as calculated within the framework of adjusted net savings, represent only part of the economic costs of air pollution and should be interpreted as a lower-end estimate.

Statistical Concept and Methodology: Within the national accounting framework, air pollution damages are estimated following a human capital approach. Damages from premature mortality are calculated as the present value of lost income during working age, 15-64. Premature mortality among children is valued by adjusting for years until working age and discounting more heavily into the future. Estimates are for both urban and rural areas. Exposure to household air pollution is proxied by the number of households in each country cooking with solid fuels.

Aggregation method: Weighted average

Periodicity: Annual

Classification

Topic: Economic Policy & Debt Indicators

Sub-Topic: National accounts