The Emigration Problem in Lithuania

Unit 3: Migration

11/18/16

Original article link can be found here

Synopsis:

           The country of Lithuania is the opposite of the rest of the world on its issue of emigration and immigration. Right now, it is most concerned with its rising emigration rates rather than immigration ones. Most of what you see on the news is countries worried about how many people they have coming into their country and their fear of terrorism, however, that is not the case with Lithuania. Its population has been steadily declining since 2000 and the government is now focusing on turning that around. A declining population as such has a huge effect on the economy and how the country functions as a whole. The country is projected to shrink by another 40% between now and 2080 if nothing is done about the problem. Lithuania needs to find a way to promote staying in the country and a way to get people to want to move there. Overall, this is a unique problem that not a lot of countries have.

Analysis:

          Lithuania is a country in Europe that currently has a problem with emigration. Too many people are leaving the country and its population is declining rapidly with each year. The growing concern right now is that the population is starting to consist of more of the elderly and not enough young people of working age to support the population. They are starting to have a higher dependency ratio which puts pressure on the people who do work.  A recent survey showed that people in Lithuania have less of an authoritarian populist view than other countries like Germany, UK, and France. As a result, there was a recent surprise in Lithuania’s parliamentary election. The Lithuanian Peasant and Greens Union party, which is founded by farmers, unexpectedly won the most seats in the parliament against all the other more popular parties. They took 54 out of the 141 seats which is more than the other parties. Prior to this election, this party only had one seat. Therefore, jumping from one seat to 54 shows that there is a lot of change happening in the country. This party campaigned on the fact that they can help stop emigration and keep people in. Since 2000, the country has been shrinking at a rapid rate and holds the title for the fastest decline in population in the EU. One reason for the mass emigration is Lithuania’s low wages. Also, most people move to other places in Europe due to the easiness of travel in the EU. Lithuania joined it in 2004 and since then its population has dropped by 500,000 because of the ability to travel freely within the countries in the union. All of the country itself is just three million people so half a million is a significant number. Right now Lithuania has a negative net-migration because more people are leaving than coming in. It is really struggling to support its shrinking and aging population and its prospects are even less compelling for young people because it seemingly has no opportunities. Currently, the country is projected to shrink by another 40% from now until 2080. Overall, this is very alarming for Lithuania and maybe with their new elected officials in the parliament they will be able to help solve the emigration problem.