About 2,000 returned from Lithuania to Belarus in 2023 – official data

January 30, Pozirk. In 2023, 22,000 Lithuania’s permanent residents left the country, including 12,000 foreign nationals and 10,000 Lithuanians, LRT reported citing official data.

The number soared by 44 percent year on year due to the departure of 8,000 Ukrainians and 2,000 Belarusians to their home countries, while Lithuanians mostly emigrated to Germany, Norway and the United Kingdom. 

Last year, 66,900 people, most of them foreigners, came to Lithuania, 23.5 percent fewer than in 2022.

Most reportedly arrived in Lithuania from Ukraine, Belarus and other former Soviet states.

In the first six months of 2023, the number of Belarusians residing in Lithuania grew by some 20 percent to 58,347 people.

On January 1, Lithuania reported a one-percent year-on-year rise in permanent residents to 2.9 million people.