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rfmcdonaldThe phenomenon of Lithuanian emigration is becoming a serious issue indeed on the Lithuanian political agenda.
Lithuania's economy has been booming, but living standards as measured by PPP-adjusted GDP per capita remain far below all-European Union averages. Estonia in the north and the countries that once formed the core of the Hapsburg domains--the Czech Republic, Slovenia, Slovakia, Hungary--all enjoy standards of living which, if still at the lower end of the scale and compromised by extreme regional and other disparities, are still roughly First World. Lithuania, like Poland to the south and Latvia to the north, is still poor. It's not surprising that these three countries are the ones that have reported the heaviest emigration since enlargement in 2004.
How can this massive emigration be stopped? Mediterranean Europe stopped hemorraghing people to the north by becoming First World in its own stead, closing the north/south gap in living standards quickly enough to avoid repopulating France and Germany and the Netherlands. Can Lithuania and its neighbours manage the same? One would hope so, if only because their decidedly low birth rates mean that their populations are not going to recover pre-emigration levels quickly, if at all.
A total of 15,610 people have left Lithuania, said speakers at a Friday conference at the Lithuanian Seimas. Many speakers said that Lithuania does not have precise emigration statistics and the actual number may exceed the official rate by 10-15 times.
"About 400,000 people or 10% of the population have left Lithuania in 16 years of independence," sociologist Mantas Adomenas said. If the emigration rates remain unchanged, "not a single Lithuanian will be left on the national territory by the year 2560," he added.
The conference participants urged Lithuanian authorities "to draft a strategy for containing the emigration rates."
Lithuania's economy has been booming, but living standards as measured by PPP-adjusted GDP per capita remain far below all-European Union averages. Estonia in the north and the countries that once formed the core of the Hapsburg domains--the Czech Republic, Slovenia, Slovakia, Hungary--all enjoy standards of living which, if still at the lower end of the scale and compromised by extreme regional and other disparities, are still roughly First World. Lithuania, like Poland to the south and Latvia to the north, is still poor. It's not surprising that these three countries are the ones that have reported the heaviest emigration since enlargement in 2004.
How can this massive emigration be stopped? Mediterranean Europe stopped hemorraghing people to the north by becoming First World in its own stead, closing the north/south gap in living standards quickly enough to avoid repopulating France and Germany and the Netherlands. Can Lithuania and its neighbours manage the same? One would hope so, if only because their decidedly low birth rates mean that their populations are not going to recover pre-emigration levels quickly, if at all.
