Migration trends (1/)
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Emigration

Emigrants by age

In 2020, more than 71,7 percent of emigrants were aged between 15-44. This age group only makes up about 36 percent of the entire Lithuanian population.

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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 2 percent of the total emigration flow, despite making up about 20 percent of the entire population.

Source: Statistics Lithuania. Updated: 2022-09-10

Where do Lithuanians emigrate?

For several years the main destination for Lithuanian migrants has been the United Kingdom. In 2021, 24 percent of all emigrants chose UK.

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Compared to 2019 and 2020, when 35 percent and 26 percent chose UK, its popularity is decreasing. Other emigration destinations include Norway, Germany, Ukraine, and Netherlands.

Source: Statistics Lithuania. Updated: 2022-09-10

Which countries have the biggest number of Lithuanians?

According to the data of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Migration Department, approximately 461 thousand Lithuanians are living abroad.

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The majority reside in the United Kingdom (33 percent), Germany (13 percent), Norway (11 percent) and Ireland (10 percent).

Source: Migration Department. Updated: 2022-09-10

Children migration

Child migration is the movement of persons aged between 3 and 18 years, inside or outside national borders, with or without parents or legal guardians, to another country or region.

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Minors who emigrate are affected by the same motivations as adults. It includes economic reasons, aspirations for better education, a search for better opportunities, etc.

A decrease in the number of children in emigration was recorded since 2017. From 2017 to 2021, the total amount of children in emigration decreased by 83 %, reaching 1047 cases of emigration. Throughout 2017-2021, the number of male and female migrant women is equal. On average, 51 % of boys and 49 % of girls emigrated during this period.

Source: State Child Rights Protection and Adoption Service. Updated: 2022-09-10

How much money emigrants send home?

In 2021 financial transfers to Lithuania from private persons living abroad amounted to 658,2 million EUR and equalled to 1,3 percent of GDP.

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In comparison, 1.1 billion EUR from the country’s budget were designated for defence and 894 million EUR for health care in 2021.

Note: It is impossible to single out the remittances sent exclusively by emigrants. Therefore, the number given reflects remittances in general.

Source: Central bank of the Republic of Lithuania. Updated: 2021-08-05

Immigration

Who is immigrating to Lithuania?

For many years, most immigrants were returning Lithuanian citizens (about 82 percent on average). The rest were EU citizens (3 percent) and non-EU citizens (15 percent).

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From 2017 this trend changed. In 2021 the proportion of returning Lithuanians was 53 percent, while the share of EU citizens decreased to 2 percent, but the share of non-EU citizens increased to 45 percent. Most foreign immigrants were citizens from Belarus and Ukraine (about 33 percent of all immigrants).

In the second graph, 5 EU and non-EU counties are shown from which majority of immigrants arrived to Lithuania in 2021.

Source: Statistics Lithuania. Update: 2022-09-10

Which countries are Lithuanians returning from?

Return migration is defined as return of Lithuanian citizens who have been living abroad. In 2021 a half (50 percent) of the returning migrants came back from the United Kingdom. Considerable amount (25 percent) of people also returned from Norway, Germany and Ireland.

Source: Statistics Lithuania. Updated: 2022-09-10

Perceptions about return

Annually the Ministry of Foreign Affairs surveys the perceptions of the Lithuanian diaspora.

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The survey allows the Ministry to estimate the willingness of Lithuanians living abroad to return to their country of origin and reveals their expectations.
In 2021, almost 60 % of compatriots did not exclude return to Lithuania, while 23 % said they did not want to return. 4.1 % also plan to return this year or the following year.
A comparison of these indicators with statistics for 2016-2020 shows a positive return migration trend. On average, between 2016 and 2020, 76.9 % of respondents said they were thinking of returning to Lithuania. This figure increased to 77.1 % in 2021.

Source: Statistics Lithuania. Updated: 2022-09-10

Return migration factors

Lithuanian diaspora identifies the family and friends living in Lithuania (74.9 % in 2021), the desire for children to grow up in their homeland (24.4 % in 2021), and their willingness to work and develop in Lithuania (24.2 % in 2021) as the main reasons encouraging return to their country of origin.

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2018-2021 shows the diminishing importance of high quality of life in Lithuania as a factor for return migration. In 2018, 41.6 % of respondents identified this reason, while in 2021, the high quality of life figured in only 7.7 % of responses of Lithuanians who live abroad.

Source: Statistics Lithuania. Updated: 2022-09-10

Foreigners

How many foreigners live in Lithuania?

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.

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More than 100 thousand foreigners lived in Lithuania in 2021. The vast majority are third country nationals: 18 percent are people who have obtained a permanent residence permits (PRPs), which are issued for five years. 72 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 10 percent.

Source: Migration Department. Updated: 2022-09-10

What are the grounds for issuing a temporary residence permit?

Non-EU citizens can enter and stay in Lithuania only for purposes established by the law. The graphic shows all temporary residence permits (TRPs) issued/replaced to non-EU citizens based on admission grounds.

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In 2021 most of the permits were issued on the ground of employment (78 percent), family reunification (11 percent) and to study (7 percent). Compared to 2020, the number of temporary residence permits issued on the ground of employment decreased by 3.2 percent.

Source: Migration Department. Update: 2022-09-10

What are nationalities of foreigners in Lithuania?

In 2021, the largest share of foreigners that lived in Lithuania were Ukrainian (32 percent), Belarusian (31 percent) and Russian Federation (13 percent) citizens.

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The number of citizens of India is also increasing. Lithuania also hosts citizens of distant countries like Bahamas, Mozambique, Trinidad and Tobago, etc., but the numbers are very small.

Source: Migration Department. Updated: 2022-09-10

How many foreigners work in Lithuania?

Foreigners (apart from EU nationals) who wish to work in Lithuania must meet certain conditions.

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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 2021, the number of migrant workers in Lithuania had increased significantly: during the year almost 40.5 thousand temporary residence permits and 34 thousand national D visas on the ground of employment were issued.

Source: Employment Service. Updated: 2022-09-10

What are the top 5 foreigner‘s professions?

Until 2016 information about professions of foreign workers was based on work permits.

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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, information regarding professions of foreign workers is based on decisions to issue a temporary residence permit and/or national D visa on the ground of employment for foreigners who have a profession in demand in Lithuania.

In 2021, majority of foreigners who arrived on the ground of employment had a profession in demand in Lithuania. The highest number of foreign workers were drivers of international freight transport vehicles. However, cook, electrician, packaging operator equipment, and carpenter professions increasingly gained popularity in the past year.

Lithuania has two lists of professions in demand:
- The List of professions in demand is approved annually by the Employment Service. In 2021, 96 professions were included into the list (i.e., drivers of international freight transport vehicles, welders, concreters, assemblers of metal constructions, etc.).
- The List of professions in demand requiring high professional qualifications approved by the Lithuanian Government. In 2021, 67 professions were included into the list (i.e., IT engineers, graphic designers, aviation specialists, etc.).

Source: Employment Service. Updated: 2022-09-10

Where do labour migrants come from?

Information on citizenship of foreign workers is only partial. 

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From 2019, data is presented in percentage values. According to this information, in 2020, 29239 decisions were made to issue a work-related temporary residence permit for foreigners whose professions were on the shortage occupation list. Majority of foreign workers came from Ukraine (51 percent) and Belarus (38 percent).

Source: Employment Service. Updated: 2022-09-10

Where do labour migrants come from2?

Source: Employment Service. Updated: 2019-11-20

Asylum

Asylum in Lithuania: 15 years overview

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).

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In 2021 Lithuania received 4259 asylum applications. This is 13 times more than in 2019.

Source: Migration Department. Updated: 2022-09-10

Who applies for asylum?

In 2021 there were 4259 applications for asylum.

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Most applications were received from citizens of Iraq (58 percent), Afghanistan (7 percent), Democratic Republic of the Congo (3.5 percent), Russia (3 percent), Cameroon (2 percent) and Syrian Arab Republic (2.7 percent).

Source: Migration Department. Updated: 2022-09-10

Who is granted asylum?

In 2021 asylum has been granted to 451 persons: 443 were granted the status of refugee and 8 were granted subsidiary protection.

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The majority people that were granted asylum were citizens of Afghanistan (43 percent), Belarus (28 percent), Syrian Arab Republic (15 percent), Eritrea (6 percent) and Russia (3 percent). It is important to emphasize that a decision of granting an asylum can be made in the next year after the application of asylum has been lodged. Therefore, in particular cases, the number of lodged applications can be less than the number of asylum granted in the same year.

Source: Migration Department. Updated: 2022-09-10

How many asylum applicants are resettled and relocated to Lithuania?

In 2015, Lithuania committed to accept 1077 migrants from European Union countries as well as third countries. In 2021, 16 persons from Greece, Italy and Malta were relocated to Lithuania. In general, 513 migrants have been resettled in Lithuania during five years when the agreement was in force.

Source: International Organization for Migration. Updated: 2022-09-10

Irregular Migration

Refusal of entry by grounds

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.

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For the vast majority of irregular migrants Lithuania is a transit state whilst trying to reach West Europe or Scandinavian countries. 3582 foreigners were denied entry to Lithuania in 2021, mainly due to threat to security and public order (74 percent) or because they did not have a valid travel document (14 percent).

Source: Migration Department. Updated: 2022-09-10

Foreigners found to be illegaly present in Lithuania

The residence of an alien is considered illegal if the period of his stay in the Republic of Lithuania exceeds the period of residence established for aliens;

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the alien stays in Lithuania after the expiration of visa or without a visa (in case, it is necessary), or with a revoked or forged visa; the alien does not have a valid travel document; if he entered the Republic of Lithuania illegally or resides in Lithuania without a residence permit or with an invalid, revoked or forged residence permit. 4961 of illegally staying foreigners were present within the territory of Lithuania in 2021, most of them were the citizens of Iraq, Ukraine, Belarus, Russia and Kazakhstan.

Source: Statistics Lithuania. Updated: 2022-09-10

Return decisions and expulsion

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.

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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).

Source: Migration Department. Updated: 2022-09-10

How many migrants return home with IOM assistance?

For more than eighteen years the International Organization for Migration (IOM) Vilnius office provides assisted voluntary return to non-EU citizens who have found themselves in an irregular situation in Lithuania.

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Assisted voluntary return aims to help migrants who are in Lithuania illegally to return to their country of origin safely and with dignity. The assistance is given to non-EU citizens, who decide to leave voluntarily but do not have financial means to leave on their own.

Source: International Organization for Migration. Updated: 2020-07-22