The German Federal Agency for Civic Education published a bilingual article (freely available in English and German) on current migration trends in Lithuania. The brief, prepared by dr. Giedrė Blažytė, research director at the Diversity Development Group, covers statistical, legal, and historic review of the Lithuanian migration phenomenon and discusses key developments in the areas of emigration, immigration, asylum, and integration.

According to the conclusions drawn, Lithuania – traditionally characterized as a country of emigration – might soon find itself at the threshold of becoming a state distinct for trending immigration patterns. Research shows that in 2019, for the first time in 28 years, Lithuania recorded a population increase – mainly, due to the positive net migration of foreign citizens. Compared to 2004, the number of such migrants in the country has more than doubled and their share in the total population has tripled.

Nonetheless, despite its steadily increasing migrant population, Lithuania remains well behind other European Union states if quality of its migrant integration policies is taken into account. According to freshly published MIPEX (Migration Integration Policy Index) evaluation results, Lithuania exemplifies rather poor results with its migrant integration policy evaluated by solely 37 points out of total 100 (an average performance by other countries analyzed accounted to 50 points). Such trends expose that by relocating to Lithuania, migrants and foreign newcomers are likely to face more obstacles than opportunities.