It turns out that huge sums of money, measured in billions of euros, annually return to the home countries of emigrants, encouraging consumer demand and economic growth. Certain hopes are also pinned on the return of current seekers of happiness to their historical homeland, writes IA Rosbalt. Will these hopes be justified?
At a recent presentation of the publication of the Institute of Civil Society of Lithuania "Lithuanian Emigration: Problem and Possible Solutions", the positive aspects of the mass "export" of labor resources from Lithuania were for the first time widely voiced. It was noted that funds earned in the West are returning to Lithuania, and there is also hope for the return of "professional, academic and cultural experience". Moreover, Lithuanians abroad are spoken of as an important factor in "protecting Lithuania's interests in foreign countries".
This approach is something completely new for Lithuania, which until now saw only evil in emigration. However, on the other hand, it is precisely this view of the large numbers of Lithuanians scattered around the world that corresponds to Lithuania's current geopolitical claims. Having only yesterday accused Russia of using Russian-speakers as a "fifth column", today Lithuania is, in principle, ready to resort to the factor of foreign Lithuanians to defend its own interests.
Obviously, this change in Lithuania's approach to the problem of emigration is linked to the possibility of legalizing labor resources in many EU countries. In particular, immediately after joining the European Union, Lithuanians gained legal access to the labor markets of individual EU countries such as Ireland, the United Kingdom, and Sweden. Recently, illegal workers were legalized in Spain. Legalization means the official status of Lithuanian emigrants with all the ensuing consequences, up to participation in local elections.
According to data published in the media, about 70% of all emigrants from Lithuania go to EU countries. 25% of the Lithuanians who left have settled in the United States, the traditional and largest world center of Lithuanian emigration. Interestingly, Russia accepted 5% of the total number of Lithuanian emigrants. Finally, less than one percent of the Lithuanians who left went to... Arab countries.
As for the European Union, emigration from Lithuania here was distributed as follows. About 50% of Lithuanian emigrants to Europe ended up in the United Kingdom and Ireland, which had opened their labor market to them from the very beginning. Another 30% - in Spain and Portugal. The remaining 20% are in Germany and the Scandinavian countries.
The exact scale of emigration from Lithuania has not yet been officially recorded, due to the still prevalent illegal form of departure. Meanwhile, experts speak of up to 50,000 people leaving the country annually, and the total number of emigrants is often estimated at half a million people. Recently, citing sociologists, it was reported that almost 90% of young people want to leave Lithuania. True, most of them plan to leave their homeland for short periods. However, as statistics show, those who initially intended to leave for a short period often get stuck in a foreign country for a long time.
An interesting survey among Lithuanian emigrants was conducted by the Institute of Civil Society of Lithuania. When asked whether they intended to return to Lithuania, 31% of emigrants vaguely answered that "maybe I will return, but I don't know when". 16% more categorically stated: "most likely, I will not return". 11% of respondents will return only when they "make a career" or "earn enough money for further life". 3% intend to return to Lithuania after they "wait for their pension". 1% of emigrants are sure that they will never return to their homeland.
Thus, about 60% of emigrants from Lithuania do not intend to return home, at least in the near future. At the same time, 6% of respondents intend to return only after 5-10 years, 4% - after 3-4 years, and only 8% - in a year or two.
The reason foreign Lithuanians are in no hurry to return is quite obvious. As surveys show, these people would like to receive in Lithuania at least four times the current average Lithuanian salaries so that emigration would not tempt them. Moreover, today in Lithuania no one hides the fact that more and more people in the country are supported by relatives earning money in the West. Children support elderly parents, parents support young children left in Lithuania under the care of grandmothers. Often later, having got on their feet, they take their children to the West.
It should also be noted that few Lithuanian emigrants invest the funds earned in the West in business in Europe or the United States themselves. After all, this requires very good knowledge of local laws, language, psychology, and the ability to compete successfully in a tight foreign market. Instead, emigrants readily invest in Lithuanian real estate and buy expensive consumer goods in Lithuania. For example, they are among the first to purchase new cars here, since the average Lithuanian salary is usually enough only to buy a car that is ten years old.
According to experts, each emigrant spends approximately the average Lithuanian salary per month in Lithuania, that is, about a thousand litas. In terms of the total number of emigrants, we can already speak of billions of litas (according to some data, we are talking about half a billion euros per year). For such a small country as Lithuania, where only 3.5 million people live, this is a huge amount.
While GDP growth in Lithuania today measures about 6% per year, the flow of money to Lithuania from emigration accounts, according to some estimates, for 10% of Lithuanian GDP. In the world, however, there are many countries where this figure reaches up to 20%. Money goes to Lithuania officially, through banks, but even more of it, fearing taxation, emigrants bring with them, pass through relatives and acquaintances, or even hide in ordinary parcels. Meanwhile, emigration from Lithuania is growing...
Whether post-Soviet countries should stop grieving over the departure of their citizens in search of happiness and start rejoicing in it, the near future will show. The thing is that the shortage of workers and specialists, which is already being felt today, for example, in such areas of the Lithuanian economy as construction and medicine, will, according to forecasts, become threatening in two or three years. And then it will be necessary to urgently decide where to get doctors, teachers, workers... The French, Germans, or British will not come to Lithuania from their rich countries, and the doors to the East will have to be opened. Thus, money, now already from immigrants, will flow from Lithuania to the poorer countries of the post-Soviet space.