In two years, the number of Belarusians with residence permits in Lithuania decreased by 20%. How many are left?
The number of Belarusian citizens with residence permits in Lithuania continues to steadily decrease.
Illustrative photo. Photo: lookbymedia
As of March 1, 2026, 49,778 Belarusian citizens hold valid residence permits in Lithuania (of any type). The maximum number of Belarusians with Lithuanian residence permits was on April 1, 2024 — 62,844 people.
Screenshot: migracija.lrv.lt
Thus, in less than two years, the number of Belarusians in Lithuania decreased by 13,066 people, which is more than 20% of the figures for spring 2024. Over the past year, the reduction amounted to 7,225 people.
It is worth noting that of these almost 50 thousand Belarusian citizens with Lithuanian residence permits, significantly fewer actually live in Lithuania. The reason is that Belarusians in Lithuania most often work as long-haul truck drivers.
For example, as of 2024, almost 25 thousand Belarusian citizens worked there as international drivers. Naturally, with the reduction in the total number, the number of long-haul truck drivers may also decrease, but in percentage terms, they may still account for about 40-45% of all Belarusians with residence permits in Lithuania. At that time, long-haul truck drivers accounted for about 72% of all employed Belarusians in Lithuania.
Illustrative photo. Photo: "Nasha Niva"
The specificity of their work is such that although they formally work in Lithuania and have registration there, truck drivers are very rarely in the country itself. Drivers, as a rule, perform routes in other European countries, and upon returning from a tour of duty, they go home to Belarus to rest.
At the same time, the number of Belarusians with permanent residence permits is slightly increasing. A year ago, there were 3822 Belarusians with national permanent residence permits and 75 with permanent residence permits from other EU countries in Lithuania; now there are 3996 and 77 respectively (a total increase of 176 people).
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Бедная Литва с такой миграционной политикой