The latest statistics show that approximately 150,000 third-country nationals and approximately 17,000 citizens of other European Union countries are currently working in Lithuania, which means that one in ten people working in the country is currently a foreigner.
In recent years, there has been a steady increase in migration, mainly from third countries. Between 2020 and 2025, the number of third-country workers in Lithuania increased almost twentyfold. At the beginning of 2020, around 6,800 people from third countries worked in Lithuania, and only 100 citizens of other EU countries. In 2021, the number increased threefold, and in 2022, with an increase in migration flows from Ukraine, Belarus and Russia, the number of foreigners in the labor market reached 37,600 people. The majority were from third countries.
Data compiled as of the 1st of October, 2025 show that foreigners make up about 11% of the total workforce.
Employment Service representative Milda Jankauskienė indicated that the majority of foreigners work in the largest cities – Vilnius, Kaunas and Klaipėda.
Approximately half of the migrants, 78,000, work in the transport and logistics sector.
This is followed by construction, manufacturing, hospitality, and the information technology and communications sector. Jankauskienė indicated that EU citizens mostly work in construction, administrative and customer service sectors. Approximately 1,500 EU citizens are employed in the transport and logistics sector.
According to 2024 data, the majority of workers have arrived from Belarus, approximately 46,544 people. Ukrainians are in second place (39,791), and citizens of Uzbekistan (7,199) are in third place. A significant number – 6,094 – have arrived from Russia. Foreign workers also come from Tajikistan, India, Kyrgyzstan, Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, Georgia and Moldova.
The government’s Strategic Analysis Center STRATA noted that migrants are helping to cope with the labor shortage in Lithuania.
The increase in the number of migrant workers has highlighted income inequality between newcomers and locals. Giedrė Beleckienė, STRATA’s chief policy analyst, said that in jobs requiring an average level of skills, migrants receive on average 11% less than Lithuanians. She stressed that
the difference indicates a potential risk of inequality,
and migrants with a certain level of skills are in a less favorable position than local workers.
At the same time, in jobs requiring a high level of skills, foreigners receive on average 13% more than Lithuanian citizens. Beleckienė said that this indicates that specialists with specific skills, which are rare in Lithuania, are entering the labor market, and their positions are paid above the average level. “It is also likely that these positions are difficult to fill with local labor, which is why employers are ready to offer more attractive wages,” Beleckienė added.
Read the full article in English here: https://www.lrt.lt/en/news-in-english/19/2751362/number-of-migrant-workers-in-lithuania-increases-20-times-in-six-years
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