Since Lithuania became independent in 1990, its population declined by one-fifth, that is 800 thousand inhabitants, and this trend continues to grow, writes the Austrian newspaper Die Presse.
This is due to low fertility rates, but first – “an unprecedented wave of emigration”, says the publication. In the early nineties left the country, Russian soldiers together with their families, however, the greatest number of citizens left the state after joining the EU in 2004 due to financial crisis, the author of the article.
In 2015, when it seemed that this mass Exodus have been overcome, Lithuania’s population again began to decline. “For us, it was a shock. This is the paradox: all the economic indicators go up, the number of immigrants should be reduced”, – said the representative of the International organization for migration in Vilnius. According to his estimates, this year Lithuania will leave about 50 thousand people.
As noted by Die Presse, the majority of immigrants from Lithuania – young people and a monthly salary of 400-500 Euro not motivate them to stay at home. As a result, the state is aging. On the way from Vilnius to Kaunas caught mainly retired, wandering from store or sweeping the autumn leaves from sidewalks, the author notes. Villages are dying across the continent, but here people don’t leave the city, and from abroad, writes Die Presse. The European Commission estimates that, by 2030 Lithuania will lose up to 35 percent of the total working population – more than any other country in the EU, underlines the Austrian newspaper.
Emigration and the ageing of the population cast a shadow on the future of Lithuania, the paper reported. Every local resident, waking up first thing in the morning thinking about how to make ends meet with the amount of funds available to it. On heating two-bedroom apartment cold in the winter. goes up to two hundred euros per month, despite the fact that the minimum wage is 380 euros, and the average Lithuanian residents earn 748 euros without taxes. In the end, the lack of money drives the Lithuanians abroad, experts say.
To earn and accumulate money, they go to other European countries who for several months a year on field work, and who for several years immediately. However, according to experts, the wave of emigration the country leaving many low-skilled workers, and the money they transferred to household bills last year amounted to 3.3 percent of GDP.
Besides, “the emigration of the Lithuanians recorded in the DNA”: in the nineteenth century hundreds of thousands of them went to the USA, and wonder why they have to give up newfound freedom now, after the end of the Soviet “occupation” continues Die Presse.
However, in Lithuania, I hope that the emigrants will return and bring with them a new level of work culture, more professional knowledge and skills, the author of the article. In addition to the outflow of population in the country notes and the economic recovery, which they say is a growing skyscraper of foreign corporations.
“However, emigration hangs over the country like the sword of Damocles,” writes the Austrian newspaper. The aging of the population aggravates the pension system and the state Treasury, although in 2015, the budget deficit was only 0.2 percent. In addition, Lithuania has long felt the lack of qualified specialists. Therefore, it is necessary to give the Lithuanians an incentive to return to the country or to attract to Lithuania migrants, experts say. However, the problem is that even some of the refugees who were sent to Lithuania on the quota of the European Union, wants to leave the country, emphasizes Die Presse.
