The population of Lithuania (edition 2021)

International migration

In 2020, 43.1 thousand people immigrated to Lithuania, which is 1.1 times (by 3 thousand) more than in 2019.

In 2020, 23.1 thousand residents emigrated from Lithuania. Against 2019, the number of emigrants decreased by 21.2 per cent (6.2 thousand).

Last year, for the first time since 2001, the number of residents who returned to Lithuania exceeded that of people who emigrated from Lithuania – by 5.5 thousand.

In 2020, the number of foreign immigrants exceeded that of emigrants by 14.5 thousand.

Over the last eleven years (2010–2020), 261.8 thousand persons immigrated to Lithuania, of whom 174.6 thousand (66.7 per cent) were Lithuanian nationals who returned to Lithuania, and 87.2 thousand (33.3 per cent) – foreigners. In 2010–2020, 480.9 thousand residents emigrated from Lithuania, of whom 435.1 thousand (90.5 per cent) were Lithuanian nationals, and 45.9 thousand (9.5 per cent) – foreigners. During the same period, in 2010–2020, the number of people who emigrated from Lithuania exceeded the number of those who immigrated to Lithuania by 219.1 thousand. The net international migration by Lithuanian nationals was negative (the number of those who emigrated exceeded the number of those who immigrated by 260.5 thousand), by foreigners – positive (the number of those who immigrated exceeded the number of those who emigrated by 41.4 thousand).

Net international migration, 2010–2020

The latest and detailed data are available in the Database of Indicators

In 2020, the crude immigration rate stood at 15.4 (in 2019, 14.3). Last year, there were 7.4 citizens of the Republic of Lithuania per 1,000 population who returned to Lithuania, and 8 foreigners per 1,000 population who immigrated to Lithuania (in 2019, 7.3 and 7 respectively).

In 2020, 20.8 thousand (48.3 per cent of all immigrants) citizens of the Republic of Lithuania returned to Lithuania, which is by 0.4 thousand (2 per cent) more than in 2019. In 2020, more than half (11.8 thousand (56.7 per cent) of them were men.

In 2020, most of citizens of the Republic of Lithuania who returned to Lithuania came back from the United Kingdom (9.6 thousand, or 46.2 per cent), Norway (2 thousand, or 9.6 per cent), Germany (1.6 thousand, or 7.7 per cent), Ireland (1.4 thousand, or 6.7 per cent). Against 2019, the number of citizens of the Republic of Lithuania who returned to Lithuania from the United Kingdom and Germany slightly increased (by 0.4 and 5 per cent respectively), while from Ireland and Norway – decreased (by 8 and 4.2 per cent respectively).

In 2020, the median age of male and female citizens of the Republic of Lithuania who returned to Lithuania was 30 and 29 years respectively. Compared to 2019, the age of males increased by 1 year, that of females – remained unchanged.

More than half (57 per cent) of male and 50.4 per cent of female citizens of the Republic of Lithuania aged 18 and over who returned to Lithuania in 2020 have never been married, one third of them (31.2 per cent of men and 33.3 per cent of women) – were married.

In 2020, 22.3 thousand foreigners immigrated to the country (51.7 per cent of all immigrants), which is by 2.6 thousand (1.1 times) more than in 2019. In 2020, the majority (20 thousand or 90 per cent) of foreigners who immigrated to Lithuania were men.

Almost half (9.3 thousand, or 41.7 per cent) of foreigners who immigrated to Lithuania in 2020 were the citizens of Ukraine, 7.3 thousand (32.7 per cent) – Belarus, 1 thousand (4.5 per cent) – the Russian Federation. Over the year, the number of citizens of Ukraine who immigrated to Lithuania grew by 5 per cent, Belarus – 1.1 times, while of the Russian Federation – decreased by 4.5 per cent.

In 2020, the median age of male foreigners who immigrated to Lithuania was 37, female – 29 years (in 2019, 37 and 28 years respectively).

The majority of male (92.8 per cent) and more than half of female (66.8 per cent) foreign immigrants aged 18 and older had never been married, 5.6 per cent of men and 30.9 per cent of women – were married.

Return migration of citizens of the Republic of Lithuania and foreigners who immigrated to Lithuania, 2010–2020

The latest and detailed data are available in the Database of Indicators

In 2020, the crude emigration rate (the number of emigrants per 1,000 population) was on the decrease and stood at 8.3 ‰ (in 2019, at 10.5 ‰).

In 2020, the number of male and female emigrants amounted to 14.3 thousand and 8.8 thousand respectively, i.e. the number of male emigrants exceeded that of female emigrants by 5.5 thousand. Against 2019, the number of male and female emigrants decreased by 1.9 thousand (11.5 per cent) and 4.3 thousand (32.9 per cent) respectively.

Emigrants 2010–2020

The latest and detailed data are available in the Database of Indicators

Last year, 6 thousand (26 per cent) of all emigrants chose the United Kingdom as their destination of emigration, Ukraine was chosen by 3.8 thousand (16.5 per cent), Belarus – 2.1 thousand (9.1 per cent), Germany – 1.8 thousand (7.8 per cent), Norway – 1.7 thousand (7.4 per cent). Compared to 2019, the number of emigrants to the United Kingdom decreased by 4.1 thousand (40.3 per cent), Germany – 801 (31.1 per cent), Norway – 685 (28.9 per cent), while Ukraine and Belarus – increased by 1.6 thousand (42.8 per cent) and 1 thousand (48.2 per cent) respectively.

Emigrants by next place (country) of residence, 2019–2020

2019	2020

The latest and detailed data are available in the Database of Indicators

In 2020, median age of male and female emigrants was 33 and 27 years respectively. Against 2019, the age of women increased by 1 year, that of men – by 4 years.

In 2020, the majority (60.3 per cent) of emigrants were born in Lithuania, 15.9 per cent – in Ukraine, 8.4 per cent – in Belarus, 3.7 per cent – in Russia, 2.3 per cent – in the United Kingdom.

In 2020, 15.3 thousand (66.3 per cent of the total number of emigrants) citizens of the Republic of Lithuania emigrated from Lithuania (in 2019, 24.5 thousand, or 83.7 per cent). 7.8 thousand (33.7 per cent) citizens of other countries emigrated from Lithuania; most of them were citizens of Ukraine (3.8 thousand), Belarus (2 thousand), the Russian Federation (472), India (231), China (107).

In 2020, more than half of male (76.9 per cent) and female (57.5 per cent) emigrants aged 18 and older had never been married, 16.5 per cent of male and 28.3 per cent of female emigrants – were married.

International migration, 2010–2020

	Immigration	Emigration	Net international migration	Crude immigration rate (per 1,000 population)	Crude emigration rate (per 1,000 population)	Crude net international migration rate (per 1,000 population)
2020	43,096	23,103	19,993	8.3	15.4	7.1
2019	40,067	29,273	10,794	14.3	10.5	3.8
2018	28,914	32,206	-3,292	10.3	11.5	-1.2
2017	20,368	47,925	-27,557	7.2	16.9	-9.7
2016	20,162	50,333	-30,171	7.0	17.5	-10.5
2015	22,130	44,533	-22,403	7.6	15.3	-7.7
2014	24,294	36,621	-12,327	8.3	12.5	-4.2
2013	22,011	38,818	-16,807	7.4	13.1	-5.7
2012	19,843	41,100	-21,257	6.6	13.7	-7.1
2011	15,685	53,863	-38,178	5.2	17.8	-12.6
2010	5,213	83,157	-77,944	1.7	26.9	-25.2

The latest and detailed data are available in the Database of Indicators

Return migration of citizens of the Republic of Lithuania and foreigners who immigrated to Lithuania by previous place (country) of residence, 2020

Return migration of citizens of the Republic of Lithuania	Foreigners who immigrated to Lithuania

The latest and detailed data are available in the Database of Indicators

Emigrants by age group, 2010–2020

Age group	2010	2011	2012	2013	2014	2015	2016	2017	2018	2019	2020
Total	83,157	53,863	41,100	38,818	36,621	44,533	50,333	47,925	32,206	29,273	23,103
0–4	3,040	2,137	1,969	1,912	1,825	1,935	2,753	1,916	1,411	1,192	840
5–9	2,757	1,772	1,672	1,749	1,808	1,964	2,269	1,947	1,533	1,386	942
10–14	2,686	1,742	1,538	1,399	1,326	1,640	1,736	1,452	1,088	978	623
15–19	4,909	3,823	2,900	2,502	2,351	2,726	3,011	3,637	2,781	2,127	1,511
20–24	15,131	11,724	8,435	7,684	6,742	8,595	8,320	10,957	6,500	5,386	3,298
25–29	18,520	11,310	8,233	7,145	6,562	7,634	9,312	9,627	5,960	5,171	3,600
30–34	11,964	6,830	5,067	5,136	4,874	5,747	7,160	5,822	3,833	3,715	3,236
35–39	7,853	4,648	3,601	3,421	3,497	4,478	4,985	3,713	2,556	2,798	2,699
40–44	5,715	3,516	2,667	2,608	2,479	3,244	3,537	2,898	2,067	2,049	2,088
45–49	4,815	2,712	2,081	1,988	1,959	2,576	2,748	2,491	1,777	1,796	1,762
50–54	3,388	1,999	1,465	1,506	1,432	1,807	2,200	1,709	1,252	1,210	1,209
55–59	1,610	960	711	805	969	1,165	1,322	1,057	780	792	702
60–64	331	274	273	289	307	405	467	310	283	289	277
65–69	140	120	140	204	156	232	203	158	125	133	138
70–74	104	99	108	145	83	101	91	70	80	73	54
75–79	72	70	91	111	91	123	91	75	66	72	32
≥80	122	127	149	214	160	161	128	86	114	106	92

The latest and detailed data are available in the Database of Indicators

Emigrants by sex and next place (country) of residence, 2020

The latest and detailed data are available in the Database of Indicators

Emigrants and immigrants by municipality, 2020

The latest and detailed data are available in the Database of Indicators

Emigrants and immigrants by rural area of counties, 2020

Counties	Immigrants	Emigrants	Net international migration
Total	43,096	23,103	19,993
Alytus	1,439	846	593
Kaunas	8,374	4,001	4,373
Klaipėda	6,212	3,223	2,989
Marijampolė	1,501	1,026	475
Panevėžys	1,856	1,417	439
Šiauliai	5,667	3,042	2,625
Tauragė	812	708	104
Telšiai	1,426	950	476
Utena	1,516	854	662
Vilnius	14,293	7,036	7,257

Emigrants by citizenship and sex, 2020

Emigrants by sex and marital status, 2019, 2020

Immigrants by sex and age group, 2010–2020

Immigrants by previous place (country) of residence, 2010–2020

Immigrants by previous place (country) of residence and sex, 2020

Immigrants by sex and marital status, 2019, 2020

The latest and detailed data are available in the Database of Indicators

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The population of Lithuania (edition 2021)

International migration

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