Over 15% of Lithuania’s population has left the country since it joined the European Union (EU) in 2004. Persistent high rates of emigration present economic and social challenges to Lithuania, writes Mykolas Romeris University (MRU) Assoc. Prof. Dr. Dangis Gudelis in the March 2016 online issue of the Baltic Bulletin of the Foreign Policy Research Institute (FPRI).

Most emigrants are young, skilled, and well educated. In 2013, 31.6% were 25–34 years old, and 26.3% between ages 15 and 24.

Given low fertility rates, Lithuania’s working-age population will decline by at least 14% by 2030. This will negatively affect the country’s economic development. It risks creating brain drain, skilled labor shortages, slower GDP growth, budget deficits, and a crisis of the social security system.

Emigration is also perceived as a threat to the identity of the small Lithuanian nation. Children of emigrants often forget the Lithuanian language, and the number who still identify with their country of origin diminishes in each new generation.

Some scholars even envision a gloomy scenario of the extinction of Lithuanian language and nation over the next 100 years.

Read the full article here: http://www.fpri.org/article/2016/03/lithuania-moves-tackle-challenges-posed-emigration/

Dr. Dangis Gudelis is an Associate Professor of Public Administration at Mykolas Romeris University in Vilnius. His research and publications focus on Lithuanian diaspora engagement as well as various topics related to public management, including knowledge management, network governance, performance measurement, public-private partnerships, and delivery social services.

In 2015 Assoc. Prof. Gudelis completed a 2-year research project on Lithuanian’s relationship with its diaspora professionals, which was funded by the Research Council of Lithuania.