Since 1990 the number of residents living in Lithuania has dropped by 899,5 thousand people, which constitutes about 24 percent of the entire population. It is worth noting, that 189,5 thousand can be referred to natural causes (births/deaths), but the vast majority (710 thousand) is due to emigration. Even though in and of itself emigration is not a negative phenomenon, the immense emigration and relatively low immigration rates present an array of challenges in Lithuania: the demographic structure is changing (i.e. the population is ageing), the country is starting to lack workforce, brain drain is occurring.

Immigration is the act of arriving in a country with the intention to remain for a period longer than one year. Despite often being associated with the arrival of foreigners, immigration includes all people – both returning Lithuanians and foreigners – who intend to reside in Lithuania for more than one year. Statistics show that during the period from 2004 to 2016 immigration flows to Lithuania consisted mainly of returning Lithuanians (about 80 percent) and 20 percent were foreigners from other EU and non-EU countries. In 2017 and 2018, this trend changed: in 2017 both returning Lithuanians and foreigners amounted to 50 percent of all immigration and in 2018 returning Lithuanians comprised 57 percent of total immigration and foreigners comprised 43 percent of total immigration.

Usually the Lithuanian citizenship is acquired after birth if one of the parents is a Lithuanian citizen or a stateless person (93 percent). It can also be obtained through naturalization (0,6 percent) or reinstated to people (and their descendants) who had Lithuanian citizenship before June 15th 1940 (5,8 percent). Naturalization is the legal act or process by which a non-citizen in a country may acquire citizenship of that country. In Lithuania, the conditions for this process are quite strict (one must be a resident of Lithuania for the past ten years, have a permanent residence permit, pass the examinations of Lithuanian language and the Constitution, have a source of income in Lithuania), thus the number of individuals that have gained Lithuanian citizenship this way is modest (196 persons in 2018). Loss of citizenship is defined as any mode of loss of the status as citizen of a country. Usually Lithuanian citizenship is lost by acquiring citizenship of another state (95 percent) because dual citizenship is allowed only in exceptional cases in Lithuania.

In 2018, more than 73.6 percent of emigrants were aged between 15 – 44. This age group only makes up about 36 percent of the entire Lithuanian population. In the long run, as the number of young people is decreasing due to emigration, this causes serious demographic problems – diminishing number of marriages, decreasing birth rate, lack of workforce. A shrinking proportion of working people must support a growing number of the unemployed. A reverse trend is being observed when comparing the number of older emigrants and the number of Lithuania’s residents. People that are 65 or older only comprise about 1 percent of the total emigration flow, despite making up about 20 percent of the entire population.

This graphic portrays the number of children who have been assigned temporary guardianship under the request of parents when one or both left the country. According to the law, one of the parents usually remains a legal representative. But in a situation when both or a single parent leaves the country, before leaving they have to submit a request for temporary guardianship for their child to the Municipal Services of Children’s Rights Protection.

A foreigner is a person who does not possess Lithuanian citizenship. This group of people is comprised of EU citizens, non-EU citizens and stateless persons. More than 58 thousand foreigners lived in Lithuania at the beginning of 2019. The vast majority are third country nationals: 31 percent are people who have obtained a permanent residence permits (PRPs), which are issued for five years. 57 percent are people who have obtained a temporary residence permits (TRPs), which are usually issued for 1-2 years. Citizens of the EU and their families amount to 12 percent.

Foreigners (apart from EU nationals) who wish to work in Lithuania must meet certain conditions. Until 2016 foreign workers had to obtain a work permit. Legal changes were implemented in 2017 which facilitated admission conditions for workers who have a profession in demand in Lithuania. These workers do not need to obtain a work permit. Therefore from 2017 information regarding foreign workers is based on decisions to issue a temporary residence permit or national D visa on the ground of employment. In 2018, the number of migrant workers in Lithuania had increased significantly: during the year 15,8 thousand temporary residence permits and 36,5 thousand national D visas on the ground of employment were issued.

Lithuania has three forms of asylum: refugee status (permanent), subsidiary protection (granted for two years with the possibility to be prolonged) and temporary protection (can be granted by the government if there is an increased number of people asking for asylum). In 2018 Lithuania received 423 asylum applications. This is almost a decrease of one third if compared to 2017.

In 2018 asylum has been granted to 154 persons: 136 were granted the status of refugee and 18 were granted subsidiary protection. The majority people that were granted asylum were citizens of Syrian Arab Republic (47 percent), Tajikistan (19 percent) and Russian Federation (15 percent).

Irregular migration is the migration of people to a new place of residence or transit that is not in accordance with the legal norms that have been established by the sending, transit or receiving states. For the vast majority of irregular migrants Lithuania is a transit state whilst trying to reach West Europe or Scandinavian countries. 5198 foreigners were denied entry to Lithuania in 2018, mainly due to threat to security and public order (38 percent) or because they did not have a valid travel document (24 percent).

Return means the process of a foreign who does not fulfil or no longer fulfils the conditions of legal stay in Lithuania going back to his/her country of origin. These people can leave voluntarily given a certain period of time for voluntary departure. If they do not leave Lithuania within this time period or the period for voluntary departure cannot be given, then they are expelled from Lithuania.

The graphic portrays the number of aliens subject to a return decision and the number of people expelled from Lithuania. It is worth noting that return decisions also include obligations to leave (when foreigners are returned to other EU Member states where they can stay legally).