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Lithuania Population 2018

2,870,491

Lithuania, officially the Republic of Lithuania, is located in Northern Europe along the Baltic Sea east of Denmark and Sweden. In 2018, Lithuania has an estimated population of 2.88 million, which ranks 138th in the world.

Lithuania's estimated population of 2.88 million is significantly lower than the estimated population of 3.04 million in 2011, and lower than the population in 2013. Despite this population decline, Lithuania has one of the fastest growing economies in the European Union.

Surface Area and Population Density

Lithuania comes in with a ranking of 124th in the world for sheer land area with 65,300 square kilometers. The population density of this country is at 44.05 people per square kilometer, ranking in at 165th in the world for population density.

Largest Cities in Lithuania

The three largest cities in Lithuania are Vilnius (542,366) - which is also the capital of Lithiania, Kaunas (306,800) and Klaipeda (158,500).

Lithuania Demographics

Interestingly, native inhabitants of Lithuania have never been replaced or pushed out by any other ethnic group since the Neolithic period. This means modern-day Lithuanians have much of the same genetic composition of their ancestors. Lithuania has a fairly homogeneous population with no apparent genetic differences between subgroups of ethnicities. A DNA analysis conducted in 2004 found that Lithuanians are closest to Finns, Estonians and Latvians.

Ethnic Lithuanians account for 5/6 of the population, which makes the country one of the most homogeneous in the Baltic States. The 2011 census found that 84% of the population was ethnic Lithuanians who spoke Lithuanian. Poles made up 6.6%, followed by Russians (5.8%), Belarusians (1.2%) and Ukranians (0.5%).

Poles are mostly concentrated in southeast Lithuania, while Russians are mostly in Vilnius and Klaipeda. There are approximately 3,000 Roma in Lithuania, as well as a small community of Tatar.

Lithuanian is the official language in use in the country, and the population also uses Russian and Polish as well as other unspecified languages.

The age structure in Lithuania is around 26% under the age of 25, 54% between the ages of 25 and 64, and nearly 20% are over the age of 65. The current median age as of 2018 is calculated at 43.7 years of age.

Population Growth

Currently, the population growth annual rate is at -.48% in 2018, which is a slight improvement from 2017, when theWorld Factbook gives a -1.07% growth rate.

Quality of Life in Lithuania

In terms of quality of life and access to necessary resources, Lithuania is doing fairly well. Less than 12% of the population struggle with access to clean water and improved sanitation facilities. In addition, the World Happiness Report shows a ranking of 50th in 2018, with an overall happiness rating that comes to 5.952 out of 10 possible points.

How Many People Live in Lithuania?

Timezones in Lithuania

Lithuania Population Growth

Lithuania's population is currently in decline, losing about 1.5% of its population per year. The country has now reached its lowest population in decades as more people emigrate to wealthier west European countries, particularly the United Kingdom. In 1989, the year it declared independence from the Soviet Union, Lithuania had a population of 3.67 million, which has now declined to 2.9 million. By 2060, the population is predicted to fall to 2.5 million.

Data Sources

Total population: Estimated to be consistent with the 2011 census, with official population estimates for 2015, and with estimates of the subsequent trends in fertility, mortality and international migration.