Lithuania's population decreased by 21,000 last year

  • 2015-01-10
  • from wire reports and Will Mawhood, VILNIUS

The population of Lithuania on Jan 1 2015 was estimated to be 2,921,000. This represents a decrease of 0.7 percent in the total population.

According to Statistics Lithuania's estimates, approximately 1,963,000 people live in urban areas - 11,600 or 0.6 percent fewer than at the beginning of 2014. The number of people living in rural areas is 958,900 - 10,000 or 1 percent less compared to early 2014,

They also found that the birth rate increased in Lithuania: 31,300 births were registered in 2014, 1,400 more than in 2013. However, overall, the population continued to decrease: there were 8,900 more deaths than births.

There was very little change in the emigration rate changed insignificantly, and the net international migration rate remained negative: 38,500 people emigrated from Lithuania in 2014, while 25,900 immigrated. When compared with the figures for 2013, 347 fewer people emigrated, while 3,800 more people immigrated. However, the net migration rate has been consistently improving since 2011 as more and more people decide to return to Lithuania.

The latest figures show that Latvia's population has dipped under two million for the first time since the 1950s. According to the Latvian Central Statistics Service, in December 2014 there were approximately 1,989,500 people living in the country, representing a decline of almost half a million in the last twenty years. Estonia's population in 2014 was estimated to be 1,275,921.