Last year, 19 thousand citizens left Lithuania - this is twice less than five years ago, in 2017 then  50 thousand citizens chose to create a life in a foreign country. In addition, 24 thousand returned to Lithuania last year, while a few years ago only 10 thousand made such a decision. 

"Return migration has been growing in recent years. For the second year in a row, the number of returnees exceeded the number of departures, and we observed a positive migration balance. It is likely that this year, for objective reasons, it will not be possible to maintain this trend. However, we see that people return because of longing for family and homeland, and for practical reasons, one of them is quality medical services. Also, a considerable part returns because they have earned money, want to raise children in Lithuania, have ideas and accumulated experience and plan to start their own business," says Eitvydas Bingelis, Head of International Organization for Migration Vilnius Office (IOM Lithuania).

Unfortunately, returning Lithuanians often face a negative attitude from society and associate their return with failure experienced abroad. As a result, returnees often face psychological problems that can complicate and prolong the entire (re)integration process. Therefore, upon returning to Lithuania, it is very important to feel the emotional support of those around you.

"It would be better for us to ask less why someone returned, and more to be happy that people are returning to Lithuania. Lithuanians often return precisely because they did not lose their relationship with Lithuania while living abroad, so they do not consider themselves emigrants. IOM Lithuania has created a campaign whose purpose is to remind that the reasons for leaving are unimportant, what is important is that the person returned home and wants to live here", says Edita Urbanovič, head of the "I Choose Lithuania" project implemented by IOM. In addition, it is noticeable that the returnees want to live not only in big cities, but also in smaller towns.

Five years ago, the most frequently mentioned reason for leaving was insufficient income, lack of work. At the moment, the reasons are more diverse - a fifth indicates that they are going to visit family members or friends, about 19 percent indicates that he is leaving because of his studies and also because of low income. "I Choose Lithuania” together with "Spinter" research conducted this year also revealed another interesting trend - people choose to leave also because they have no obligations in Lithuania (e.g. they can work remotely, they don't have their own real estate in Lithuania, etc.).

"The indicators of emigration and immigration are constantly changing, often the economic situation becomes an incentive to leave, but the quality of life is also improving in Lithuania, so people understand that they can expect a competitive salary in our country as well," says E. Bingelis.