Is Lithuania A Poor Country Or Rich Country?

So I was thinking about doing a video about Lithuania’s main sources of economic activity. But during my early google searches, I found this other question under the “People Also Ask” section of google: Is Lithuania A Rich Country or a Poor country?
I thought this was a much more intriguing question and topic to cover - and so that’s the question we will try to answer for today’s video.
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Data sources:
gfmag.com/data/worlds-richest-and-poorest-countries/
www.delfi.lt/en/business/gap-between-rich-and-poor-lithuania-on-list-of-15-countries-with-widest-gap-81321392
www.lrt.lt/en/news-in-english/19/1991412/what-is-happening-to-lithuania-s-middle-class
eng.lsm.lv/article/economy/economy/06.11.2023-income-inequality-high-in-latvia-compared-with-rest-of-eu.a529645/
www.lrt.lt/en/news-in-english/19/2162903/is-poverty-decreasing-in-lithuania

[@user-dt5nj3uk2s]

Lithuania felt very rich and successful to me when I visited this year. Far better than Spain, Portugal, Croatia, Italy. Also it felt far safer and cleaner than these countries mentioned as well. I kept saying to my boyfriend “damn if things keep improving here for like 10 more years it’s going to feel like Sweden or Finland!” Some of the new apartments being built in Kaunas are gorgeous by the way, so modern and hot. I travel around the world and work from my computer and out of 61 countries Lithuania is one of my top 10 favorites.

[@RedVelvetvelv]

Is sweden an example to others? Are you joking 😅

[@user-dt5nj3uk2s]

@@RedVelvetvelvOther than letting in migrants who are ruining country, yes, beyond that Sweden is or at least was superior to nearly every other country in Europe. Only Iceland, Norway, Denmark, Netherlands and Switzerland being objectively better.

[@crabLT]

@@RedVelvetvelv An example of what not to do.

[@user-dt5nj3uk2s]

@@RedVelvetvelvthe only issue with Sweden is the migrants they have let ruin parts of their country. Other than that it is nearly perfect.

[@dovydasstasionis]

​@@RedVelvetvelv Sweden is more of an example about how to DO NOT do!

[@ihavegreeneyes14]

The issue we have that makes us different from say UK or France is that a huge portion of our oldest generations have no wealth at all, besides maybe a soviet-built flat or run-down house in the countryside. People in Western Europe have been building wealth for at least 2/3 generations now, while we have had only 30 years to do so under 'normal' capitalistic society. Oldest people in Western Europe have quite a lot of wealth from private workplace pension funds and private home ownerships/rent, which is not the case in Lithuania.

[@c3sargtx97]

this is not good either, in the uk and the USA this is becoming a problem as old people concentrate a lot of the wealth making it harder for younger generations to have a affordable housing

[@user-is3lh7vx4e]

How far from the truth you are. 30% of the population will never leave a normal country, and in fact all 50% will. In 30 years, an industrial country has turned into an agrarian one. What kind of wealth can there be if salespeople work half-time for 450€ a month?

[@ginniemess]

​@@user-is3lh7vx4e🤡

[@Vanduo610]

No one gets so low, maybe if you work illegal. Minimum wage is way bigger.​@@user-is3lh7vx4e

[@ihavegreeneyes14]

@@user-is3lh7vx4e I don't think this is English, is it? Did you use google translate? your comment makes no sense! And just to say, agrarian/industrial are old-fashioned terms. Countries now aim to have knowledge-based economies (IT and Research and Finance and Innovation businesses make most money) and Lithuania is doing really well to work towards this.

[@sirgalahad1470]

I just landed here from the US and am staying the week in the old town of Vilnius. This morning, I got out to go for a walk and explore the old town, which by the way, is spectacularly beautiful. In a span of 4 hours I saw the following: Ferrari 488 Daytona, Ferrari California, Porsche 911 GT3, Lamborghini Urus, several Bently SUVs, a 1960 fully restored Jaguar XK150, Ford Ranger Raptor, Audi R8, Porsche Carrera 4S, Porsche Targa 4S, and so many M class BMWs I couldn't count them all. I'm thinking "Am I in London, or am I really in Lithuania"? So, my one day impression is that Lithuanians are rich lol

[@VisualFeast7557]

Well, Vilnius is a different "planet". In 2015 there were calculations made and Vilnius region GDP was equal to France, Kaunas, and Klaipėda to Portugal other regions to Romania and Bulgaria.

[@vaidotasmeseckas2321]

@@VisualFeast7557 Vilnius wouldn't survive without the port of Klaipeda

[@citriuxxx6805]

thing is, Lithuania have more non legal non on paper profits :D

[@robesas]

@@citriuxxx6805 With non on paper profits in your hands you would not drive a show off car.

[@dreamthedream8929]

And you leave an impression that you know your cars very well to even be able to name them like this

[@hanshoffmann2582]

People forget that we were just like North Korea 30 years ago, and the first 10 years after the collapse of the Soviet Union were complete mess when the government couldn't function and no real development took place.. Just compare North Korea and South Korea, you wouldn't expect North Korea reach South Korean economic levels when they are 50 times richer in just a few decades.. So I am quite happy with what we achieved in the last two decades. None of these rich western countries had that kind of extreme difficulties and we already surpassed some of them in a lot of the metrics not to mention almost the entirety of the World(we are literally richer than 94% of the Worlds population according to GDP PPP metrics) and most of Eastern Europe.

[@Th3Y3llowFlash]

Great comment

[@alex182618]

I was in Lithuania in 1980s. It was no NK. Not even close. People were very nice and it was very clean on the streets. They had western mentality even then. People spoke only in Lithuanian language. Many people had their own self-employment side kick such as selling something at the market, construction, repairs. It was safe to go outside during late evening. Everything was much better than in Russia even back then.

[@jygeb]

Streets in North Korea are clean too. ​@@alex182618

[@josephkrizauskas1052]

My Grandparents left Lithuania for Pennsylvania, JAV for a better life in 1910. THAT Lithuania was much worse than today's Lithuania. Count your blessings. Lithuania has a bright future if you keep moving forward and don't give up.

[@MaduxOG]

JAV=USA Hes right its getting better but its still a hole..

[@aistisnavickas1937]

Those families, which are living in the run down houses near the centre, have the most expensive houses in Vilnius, because the government would give them probably millions to close sshop and move somewhere else, yet they persist.

[@MrIrvash]

Mes esame lietuviai uzsispire zmones 😂❤

[@souldoc123]

@@MrIrvash gal siuo atveju daugiau gobsus :)))jei siulo uz sklypa milijona,norisi dvieju...:))))))))))

[@aleksanderpetkevic3857]

Because it's their own homes in a great location they have been living for decades in, and there is no guarantee they'll get paid fairly

[@aistisnavickas1937]

@@aleksanderpetkevic3857 this is not russia. What are you on about?

[@souldoc123]

@@aistisnavickas1937 negi nematai, kad vatnikas, kaip dar vilnia nashe nerekia😃

[@harshenvy]

what i’ve learned through the last couple of years is that any country, that is not in war and whose people can live stable lives, counting on the future is a rich country

[@Littlesober]

It's very simple. If you live in Vilnius or other major cities, you earn and spend a lot more than the rest. However, Lithuania has been on a rise for the last 30 years since independence and there's no slowing down, it's always up from there. The fact is, life just keeps getting better as time goes on. There are tough times when it's tough for everyone, but it's okay.

[@user-is3lh7vx4e]

-30% of the population in 30 years💪

[@ascendedegg4668]

​@@user-is3lh7vx4e Separate problem, main topic is economy. Though it might stop declining in population if Lithuania keeps on getting better.

[@Veronikas_K45]

@@ascendedegg4668 Lithuania is not rich. Lithuania's GDP per Capita is increasing because poor people migrate to other countries.

[@sazarkanas5921]

i would say we are rich country comparing ourselves not to EU and big 8 standard, but to the rest of the world. we are not money rich, but in Lithuania you will not die from starvation, unclean water, relative minor health problems. we have ability to access free higher education, free public wifi in some places and finally government support programs that should help people stand up on their feet

[@benjaminellert7780]

The question is as for any averge European state , if the salary you get is sufficient to make living,rent an appartment,buy food,?

[@laurynasjagelo5075]

@@benjaminellert7780 its about the same salary range as you'd find in UK (maybe not london) but with about 2/3 cheaper rent and higher quality In most things anyway.

[@benjaminellert7780]

@@laurynasjagelo5075 thank you for your answer,so the young people can make their living there,I read that most of them got university diploms which I find significant.

[@sneikiusas]

​@@laurynasjagelo5075 Are you high? About thr same salary? Since when?

[@DrIstoris]

@@sneikiusassince couple years ago ? GPs have way better lifestyle in lithuania 😂 In UK doctors earn peanuts compared to housing prices. For family doctor for example, 5-7k after taxes is doable in Lithuania, not so much lesser than in the UK and the housing is way cheaper

[@PijusONLINE]

07:04 My only issue with this is that these people are actual literal millionaires, as grumpy and unwilling to cooperate with property developers as they may be. An identical-looking shack somewhere on the border with Belarus would qualify one for poverty, but not those specific central business district ones. As soon as they agree to sell, something new gets built.

[@tadasdovii8262]

Some of them are too greedy i ve seen some alcoholics was askin one milion euro for hause worth no more than 100000. They just drink and hope for milion.

[@aleksanderpetkevic3857]

You have no idea what you're talking about. These people have been living in their houses for decades, in the city centre, and now some upstarts, likely not even from Vilnius, want to evict them hardly providing a viable alternative. Not to mention outright burning old houses which is involved as a lever in blackmail, which I'm afraid is not entirely a thing of the 90's.

[@RealDwarfChieftain]

Before the reconstruction of Krokuvos g. in the CBD, I noted a shack as run down as some of those shown in the video, while it had a large party tent next to it where an orange Jeep Wrangler and a few quad bikes were parked in shade from the sun. Poverty obviously exists in Lithuania, but Šnipiškės is a world of its own - a person living in such poverty could hardly afford a car let alone a new Jeep and quad bikes for weekend fun. Not saying that is true for every one of those shacks, only that Šnipiškės shacks are a combination of tax evasion, extremely greedy landowners, abandoned buildings with property rights disputes, or genuine drunkards/impoverished owners.

[@MrTomasMaliauka]

Lithuania is a poor country if you are lazy, stupid, incompetent and want to live on state benefits. All kinds of lazy people who don't want to work, study and make innovative products and services live badly in Lithuania. This way they spoil the statistics of Lithuania as a rich country.

[@Erlandas_]

i think its kinda important to note, that those 'poverty' houses near CBD of vilnius are worth like a mill each lol

[@pro_grapist]

Exactly 😂 And when you look at the cars next to those houses it certainly doesn't look that most people who live in them are very poor either. Once saw a Ferrari parked next to one of those cribs.

[@foggybottomfarm]

It's important to note they are not worth that for the people living in them is it! It's worth this to the government only

[@Erlandas_]

@@foggybottomfarm more often than not they own these houses & refuse to sell.

[@tomekdarda]

Quite a thorough research! I had no clue Nord and Vinted were Lithuanian. All in all, the most developed countries of the former Eastern Bloc have advanced so significantly within the last 30 years that they can by no means be called poor, when taking the world as a whole. I bet they sit comfortably within the 10-15% of the most prosperous places on Earth. I call it the ariergarde of the avangarde :)

[@vaiciciaku]

That tells you all you need to know how much things are different in countries that had luck to excape soviet regime.

[@gytisnavakauskas8588]

Speaking of Vilnius It's safe , clean and chill city. Hospitality industry is NOT based on tourist, so quality of reataurants,bars,coffe shops in old town top notch (to me top 3 in europe) Average salary(after tax) ~1200eur Good salary ~1800eur IT spec, finance sector(sales , team lead , analitics) 2000-3000eur Taxes are high .. 42% But for bussines it's great. With good accountant you will pay max 18% Profit margins are large as well. So at the moment it's okey ish for average Joe , but gold mine for entrepreneur.

[@Veronikas_K45]

@@gytisnavakauskas8588 Vilnius is only safe for white people(except Russians), The city is Racist and introverted.

[@jonasjonava]

We need to appreciate what we have. To be rich you need to work hard. No "Landsbergis" will bring you a suitcase of dollars. You, in free Lithuania, have the conditions to become rich. Everything is in your hands. Lithuania. Kaunas 1000k❤️ Ukraine!!!🇱🇹❤️🇺🇦❤️🇺 🇸❤️🇪🇺❤️🇪🇪❤️🇲🇨

[@moralpolice]

Why Indonesian flag ?

[@arturass3896]

- Is Lithuania poor or rich country? - Yes.

[@Veronikas_K45]

Lithuania is a poor country, media just doesn't show it. The only rich part in Lithuania is Klaipéda and Vilnius.

[@TVAssDumb]

@@Veronikas_K45 Tai kad ir ta klaipeda ten du rajonai gal gerai atrodo bet turbut kaunas jau dabar geriau atrodo

[@arturass3896]

@@Veronikas_K45 Where have you been in Lithuania?

[@Veronikas_K45]

@@arturass3896 I've been to every big cities in Lithuania and the people doesn't seem friendly.

[@arturass3896]

@@Veronikas_K45 what a nonsense 🤣

[@jorislal]

Those families living in "run down housing" are very wealthy as they sit on the land worth millions. Some of them just refuse to sell it cause they want more. It's an annoying situation as it's an area near the city center where people technically have high NET worth given the land they own but have little disposable income so their houses just keep trashing the capital.

[@aleksanderpetkevic3857]

1. Why would they want to leave their own houses in a great location for greedy corporations to build another beehive on? 2. Do you genuinely believe they are getting paid fairly by the companies? It's not even guaranteed they aren't threatened with their house being burned, as it was common not that long ago.

[@jorislal]

@@aleksanderpetkevic3857 "I won't sell my house because I don't like what they're going to build instead of it" is not an argument you think it is. They're definitely being paid more than fairly. Also what you call a beehive is a midrise building which is the kind of the development that is absolutely the best for a city with commercial space on the first floor benefiting the community. Šnipiškės changed a lot in the past years and the change was really good.

[@aleksanderpetkevic3857]

@@jorislal how do you know they're being paid fairly? It would make for a surge in millionaires with all these new houses in Šnipiškės being built. Knowing the mentality of the higher-ups in building companies, I highly doubt it's the case. I actually live here, though not in a wooden house. New fancy, expensive shops, restaurants and the fact that Europa's turned into a fancy mall complete with overpriced IKI (this particular one being also lame compared to the Minskas one) instead of affordable Maxima. All of this might be to the liking of rich guys who want to settle in the centre of Vilnius, but it hurts the not-so-wealthy citizens including myself. The right of a person to remain at their old home is greater than a richman's whim to live in the centre. You would have been right if it were for the common good. But housing for the rich and businesses catering for them bypassing the average citizen is not common good, or at least I can't see it.

[@jorislal]

@@aleksanderpetkevic3857 it's not housing for the rich, single family homes in the city center is housing for the rich, not apartment buildings. People living there sometimes share how much they want for their plots, that's how we know. People are just plain greedy, they got that land for virtually nothing and the city happened to expand that way so they're trying to use the situation and ruining city experience for everyone else living around them.

[@aleksanderpetkevic3857]

@@jorislal do you even live in Šnipiškės? Because I do. What we're discussing now is the old wooden, consistently poor houses and those build afterwards, that nonetheless are not an epitome of wealth, even if some of them are affluent by now. The flats that are arranged here are not on the cheaper side, it's the city centre after all.

[@Noelis]

Lithuania is a rich country, but unfortunately richer scandinavian countries are nearby, although we should not compare VIlnius to the rest of the country since it is like another country on itself. Another thing is that we have very good interned, as in fast 1 Gbps is a norm and it helps with remote jobs. For example I am an independant contactor as a video editor working with US company and make 75k USD year before taxes. The work is completely from my home, it is decent. While not rich in any sense, I can live without having to worry about anything financially related. In the city where I live Šiauliai, I can afford a flat without a mortgage.

[@kaimvardas]

USD75k USD equals to roughly EUR69k which is 5750 eur/month. Average monthly salary in Lithuania Q1'24 is 2148,70 eur. You earn 267% above the average, which puts you above the mid-class, given this video says mid class range is 75-200% of avg local earnings. Well played. Technically in a several years timelapse, you could buy multiple apartments and rent them, eventually build up your wealth and live off a real estate.

[@pro_grapist]

Unfortunately? You should say fortunately, because having all those highly developed rich countries nearby positively impacts our own development a lot.

[@Noelis]

@@pro_grapist What I meant was that, in comparison were poorer, that aside I had lived in scandinavian countries like Denmark, I have nothing against them.

[@Vanduo610]

​@@pro_grapisthow they become rich if not stealing money from us?

[@villavanilla8757]

@@Vanduo610 by working? :D

[@gintarasvaidziulis2153]

In lithuanian is word "pasiturintis" that mean someone with enough wealth but not rich. I think that would be best description at this moment.

[@ignas801]

Pasiturintis - would be more upper middle class - 2 lease cars from German big 3 brands, apartment in old town or house in suburbs, second holiday house near seaside or lake. To my taste Lithuania is on par with neighbors - neither behind nor in forward.

[@kestutisa3826]

Pasiturintis - reiškia pakankamai turtingas

[@Fankas2000]

@@ignas801 "2 lease cars from German big 3 brands" That's not "pasiturintis" that's a dumbass who doesn't know how to keep money in their pocked.

[@gkulaitis]

Well-off

[@kestutisa3826]

@@gkulaitis Yes, very exact.

[@travelvideos]

$30k used to be the threshold to be considered a rich country. Many people outside Europe think of Lithuania as a rich country because of its proximity to Scandinavian countries. If it is in the North, it is considered rich.

[@Mendogology]

It's not so simple. You need to compare average salary with most basic expenses, as average rent or house pricing. There are many countries with more than 30k $ / year (if you mean 30k$ average income / year) with very low quality of life, where younger people can not afford to leave parents homes until 30s. How is this rich?

[@user-is3lh7vx4e]

@@Mendogology👍

[@roborme696]

I agree, the answer is definately, "Yes", :) It is very hard to answer one way or the other reguardless of how you look at it. I agree with some of the others who commented (and you mention in the video) that there are signs of wealth throughout Vilnius. Expensive cars, high property prices, etc. But then travel an hour from the capital (or even 25 minutes in some directions) and as long as you are not in a tourist area like Trakai or a large city, there are small villages in all directions where people will live at a small fraction of the cost of living. In some villigaes the price of the average house is only 15-20% of what the average house/apartment would be just outside Vilnius. My mother in-law and most of her her relatives live in a small community not too far from Vilnius and I could not believe on how little money they needed to get by very comfortably with. Of course the houses and apartments are older but maintained and comfortable. I thing (It appears to me) that in a lot of these smaller villages, an older generation who have always been used to that lifestyle seems very content, but when their cost of living and average income is included with the "Modern" portion of Lithuania, it skews the numbers which may be why the numbers contradict them selves.

[@joris1230]

Great video! I actually come from a rural area in the northern Suvalkija region. I do think Lithuania is getting richer and the people are not as poor as they used to be. Of course the inflation is screwing everything up at the moment, but the signs are here that in the coming years it will be much better than now once inflation is resolved.

[@jorislal]

Inflation is near 0% at the moment. osp.stat.gov.lt/infliacijos-skaiciuokle

[@ramunemardaseviciute305]

Lithuania super country😊

[@netiturtle]

1:55 what year is this 'current year'? Wiki says in 2023 GNI per capita Lithuania was 24,820, while Russia was 14,250

[@andriusgailiunas3307]

The GNI number sounds very suspicious - especially since you mentioned that it has "only gone up by about 1000 since 2016". The average gross monthly earnings in Q4 of 2016 sat at roughly €820. Currently, it's around €2,100. The GDP per capita in 2016 was around $15,000 and in 2023 it was about $27,000. So I'm not sure what method of GNI measurement you're referring to and other metrics show that, in absolute terms, average earnings roughly doubled since 2016. As someone who has lived in Lithuania since 2012, I would say that more or less tracks with what I've noticed. With all that in mind, when the stats say that the number of people in relative poverty (earning less that 60% of the median wage) have stayed about the same since we joined the EU - it's important to note that most Lithuanians couldn't afford overseas holidays when we joined the EU. Especially not to western Europe. Now, the situation is very different. So the poorest 20% live in better conditions in 2024 than they did in 2004. Finally - is Lithuania a rich country? It's somewhere around the top 20% of the world's richest countries. Is that rich? Relatively. Is it really rich? Not at all. However, it's also important to keep in mind that Lithuania has only been a capitalist country for a little over 30 years. This means that people haven't had much time to accumulate wealth and there are quite a few visible signs of historical poverty - especially, as you noted, in rural areas. In most rich countries, this difference is nowhere near as significant.

[@LithuaniaExplained]

Sorry- yes, with the GNI I should have mentioned that the updated number was adjusted for inflation to approximately match the value of the dollar/currency in 2016

[@Likeusb1]

One of the worst parts of Lithuania is the complete and utter lack of proper regional pricing. Software, electronics, general products - they all get priced on EU level, where they make 2-3x more than us. This means that most people here can hardly ever dream about even remotely fancy things. That's what leads me to say that Lithuania is still relatively poor - the average person simply can't afford anything near what they could in other countries

[@NONcomD]

Imported goods always cost like that. There was a time buying a TV was a years worth of earnings. Now our incomes are pretty comfortable for buying electronics. We can't compare ourselves to germans or the brits, but compared to other post communist countries, we are doing quite well.

[@paulius644]

There is Vilnius and then there is Lithuania, tourists get baited thinking Vilnius is the whole country but its not.

[@gunterdapenguin5896]

I work with Lithuanians a few times a week on a ferry from klaipeda, nice guys, have had a few conversations with them, they say they make around 1500-2000 euros a month, but we talked about cost of living, inflation, and taxes and stuff, and it sounds like they've got worse inflation and about the same cost of living as my country (denmark) which is notorious for having a very high cost of living (true), so even though their taxes are lower and are poorer, it's almost as expensive to live there in the city as it is in denmark. Obviously not everything is as expensive, and take it with a grain of salt as this is from individual lithuanian seamen, but still think it's interesting

[@pawlap]

here is a TWO problems this income is BEFORE taxes and are 1000-1250 after and second lithuanian seamen as like a long haul truck drivers has NO social security or have MINIMAL because they work accounts in Lithuania as "business travel"

[@gunterdapenguin5896]

@pawlap kinda my point, they make global middle class wage but live in a country where the cost of living is that of an upper middle class country

[@simas941]

not true, i spent a lot of time in denmark, when you take everything into account it is still 2x times more expensive (services, real estate)

[@gunterdapenguin5896]

@@simas941 makes more sense, again, my sources aren't too credible, just a few seamen, still thought it was interesting

[@matushka__]

It is not poor in of itself. There is simply a big wealth gap. Meaning most people live to western standards, but the poor people are like REALLY poor, like a Moldovan village level poor or a siberian russian village poor.

[@povilasdev6636]

Due to unequal growth, there is still portion of people who remain living very poor, and e.g. alcohol addiction makes things worse. I feel is rather generational due to large but unequal growth last 30 years. I see older people in general (human trait) have harder time to adapt to fast moving World. Not many have higher education degree, knowledge of the World is rather limited.

[@bazinga-tt9pj]

@@povilasdev6636 what are you on about? Lithuania has one of, if not the biggest % of people with a higher education diploma per capita in Europe. We quite literally have a problem in our job market, called diploma inflation.

[@povilasdev6636]

@@bazinga-tt9pj It's mixed. I'm talking about places with older communities where education level is 9-12th grade if not worse. This is still influential community in Lithuania, the biggest one contributing to popularity of (rural) populist parties in Lithuania.

[@viktorandersson7802]

Lithuania is really a beautiful country

[@kisutis]

I have French friends, who visited first Lithuania like 5 years ago… and when they saw cars, prices of shoes and clothes… also some food products.. they asked me why Lithuania asks for EU support and complain of being poor.. and it was not just vilnius… we visited many cities in Lithuania…

[@rico6360]

Lithuania imo is more in the richer side, but suffers from all the inequality and corruption. That's what I say to people when they ask how is Lithuania.

[@pijussimkevicius6149]

thankfully it does not have that much of corruption

[@snelas2]

@@pijussimkevicius6149 it does

[@MrIrvash]

No in comparison it's isn't as corrupted as we normally think especially when you talk about more "bad low's" or privatisation things in comparison to other countries is not as bad

[@pijussimkevicius6149]

@@snelas2 it doesn't, the corruption is the same level as lets say south korea

[@erikas4555]

@@MrIrvashcompared to what it was 10-20years ago, we have no way near the corruption we used to have in lithuania so we did improve that over the years. There is some degree of corruption in every country

[@martynasskan]

I think we are ok, people here often cry that the government is screwing us over, but in reality, you can make money if you are not lazy and you are willing to learn new specialties. how do I know this? well if I work from 9 am till 4 pm I bring home 3000 euros after taxes, so if I weren't lazy and worked more and faster I could make 5000 a month.

[@foggybottomfarm]

You support this government 😂😂😂😂 . The teachers are lazy of course and the nurses . What is you work all day for maxama you get 850 euro before tax . Yes everyone is lazy and the government is totally normal and the EU is equality 😁

[@bizcochodulce]

Thanks for the video.

[@arnoldasm7300]

Kad butum turtingas saibu nereik maksimaliu. Is patirties sakau kad uzsipisa vakarai ir rytai. Cia nera kazko ektravagantisko bet kas sukasi tas gyvena normaliai. Zmones statosi savo namus , turi savo zenes , perka kas patinka , valgo sociai,saugumas geras, mergos grazios . Ir tegu uzsipisa visi kas nesutinka. Kad ir kiek visi kas , lietuvio nepaimsi. Mes turim savo charakteri ir mum gerai ir nelygink su kitais

[@Pilkas_Vilkas]

Definitely rich, if you can't afford the cities you can easily live in small towns, but not everyone realise

[@rio5347]

In Eeastern Europe there's also a phenomenon of when people's houses from outside look very poor, but from inside look like an average middle class house

[@RidingWithGerdas]

Rich in money ? I guess no, normal. Rich in weather, landscapes (like rivers, lakes and forests), all the space we have, air quality and so on then yes we are rich.

[@ramunasperkunas6328]

Daug tiesos apie mus , matosi autorius tikrai rinko medziaga apie LT 👍

[@Vhisper]

As a Lithuanian I see it as my duty to promote Lithuania as a happy, wealth and prosperous Nordic (North Europeam) country. We scored as the happiest country for people under 30 together with countries like Finland and Denmark. Having studied in finland for 2 years I can clearly see our future - Nordic Council!

[@BananaTeam]

Don't fall for propaganda. Biggest inflation in Europe, it's mean Lithuania products cheaper in Poland and others county's 😅 Also big demographic problem. One more 30s years, and there will be twice as many retired people as there are now, and half as many working people as there are now. Lithuania also has the highest number of suicides and the highest number of alcoholics (there is a dry law in stores). There is also still a danger of war starting. I hope this never happens.

[@Vhisper]

@@BananaTeam Ruzzkie spottet - opinion rejected, crawl back into the cave where you came from, clearly darkness of it got you blind when it comes to someone not from a cave

[@Vhisper]

@@BananaTeam ryski spotet - opinion rejected, go back to your cave. orc

[@Vhisper]

@@BananaTeam r uski spottet - opinion rejected

[@BananaTeam]

@@Vhisper The high level of xenophobia and racism in the country does not give hope for a bright future.

[@WindRider1314]

Lithuania is rich and developed, but old generations are kinda undeveloped and way too religious, they don't support LGBTQ for example, sexists. But overall Lithuania is closer to west Europe, rather than east I would say, but poorer a bit and less developed a bit.

[@erika4843]

The Lithuanian old generation is sound quite similar to Russians and American conservatives, where they tend to being quite conservative, quite religious, anti-LGBT, sexists.

[@WindRider1314]

@@erika4843 yes ikr. But young people are like Americans.

[@nitrogliukas]

As a Lithuanian, I could not explain better myself 😁👌

[@bazinga-tt9pj]

We have a massive regional inequality. There's even a saying "Dvi Lietuvos". One that is Vilnius and the other that takes basically the rest. In a way, the problem is extremely bad due to next to none regional political advancements that would ease the depopulation, growth and deindustrialization problems. I'm saying this as a Vilnius resident, born and raised here - Vilnius growth could be summed up as "at the cost of the rest of the country". Heck, even the regional centers are strugling. Despite being in a relatively good spot in terms of statistics, the ones like the mentioned income inequality take away from the rest. Another funny point is our avg wages lack anywhere from 50-60% from our western counterparts, life expenses are lesser anywhere from 20-30%, yet our avg groceries cost 0.10-0.20% more than someone from the western Europe might pay themselves 😮‍💨

[@edyk6291]

Last time i checked Kaunas is doing quite well also

[@jygeb]

Being from Kaunas and now working in Vilnius I do not feel any significant life quality differences there while being from the 'other Lithuania'.

[@ogposter8086]

The income inequality is not inequality between regions, but between people in country in general

[@bazinga-tt9pj]

@@edyk6291 hopefully, cause as of right now too much of economical development is centered around Vilnius

[@bazinga-tt9pj]

@@ogposter8086 I understand that, but general avg wage distribution between districts is noticeably different if we compare let say avg Vilnius resident and the lowest in Lithuania as of now, avg Tauragė resident, that only recieves 60% of the salary available in Vilnius. The difference of 40% is stagering, considering that prices of food, fuel etc are the same nation wide.

[@Gaming4Justice]

Pretty much same in Estonia. Although we have more rightwing government so instead of taxing those with more money they tax those most at risk for personal bankrupcy. Worst inflation and decline of GDP (more than two years straight) in Europe last few years with many people losing their jobs and businesses closing down. Currently super bad time to live here. You have the super rich people who have villas next to rivers, have summer cabins and drive multiple cars and then everyone else who are living paycheck to paycheck.

[@bazinga-tt9pj]

@@Gaming4Justice isn't the governing party in EST liberal though?

[@Gaming4Justice]

@@bazinga-tt9pj Yeah, rightwing liberal.

[@ZhylvisLT]

@@bazinga-tt9pj it's called neoliberalism.

[@Misterlikeseverythin]

With the indoor toilet thing - it's few babushkas or summer homes. They can get assistance, but don't really want it.

[@naikiklis]

As a lithuanian honest opinion is that there is wealthy and hobo level people like in every other country. But the main thing quality of life and roads are way better than in most other places aswell as you can feel more safe around on streets. If you in need to call police they will tell that they are coming in 30mins but in reality it will take +/-1h depending on the issue

[@Misterlikeseverythin]

With the salary thing: Software engineer: 3000-7000 Lawyer: 2000-7000 Construction work: 1500-4000 Driver: 1500-4000 You would be hard pressed to find any job where the on paper salary is

[@LithuaniaExplained]

Thanks for the numbers! Speaking of salary, when I did research for my videos about ARAS and VAT, it was quite surprising to see how relatively little their junior members are paid… especially when considering they are some of the most specialized and most highly trained people

[@Misterlikeseverythin]

@LithuaniaExplained The public sector salaries are almost insulting. Especially teachers, doctors. Hopefully, once TSLKD are out of power things will improve. Current government has priority of balancing budget. Once I was growing up, we even had free universities. I think what also plays a part is "Darbo Birža". It's basically unemployment service, which you have to register if you're unemployed and they will try to find you a job. It could be they prioritize filling government roles, even with lower salaries.

[@erika4843]

​​@@MisterlikeseverythinYou think that the next government, more likely the Social Democrats with LVŽS and DFVL coalition, will fix Lithuania better? Oh sweet summer child.

[@johnb1145]

Depends on who you're comparing with. It's twice as poor as Mississippi, the poorest state of the US, but It's over five times richer than Indonesia, almost thrice as rich as Brazil, and over twice as Malaysia and China, while e.g India, Nigeria, Vietnam, Philippines are sadly much poorer.

[@ZhylvisLT]

Calculate it by PPP standard and you're gonna see that Lithuania actually is richer than Mississippi, West Virginia and Arkansas, very close to other top10 bottom states.

[@Zoli049]

I'm from Hungary in Lithuania (now Finland a little). Hungary is more rundown overall than Lithuania.

[@meandego]

Older folks tend to be less well-off than middle-aged folks, even though most of them own their own homes.

[@simonassitkauskas7899]

It depends where do you end up, cities and villages have different incomes, but that's in almost every country. First of all, those old houses in Vilnius, well most of them are gone, developed into apartment blocks, parks, etc. Sq/meter in new apartment will cost between 3000-8000 Eur (that depends on the area in the city). So those old houses probably cost quite a fortune. But there are old people, who don't want to sell. Also well country side can depend also on are. If would go to sea side or some lakes, property can cost a fortune and it's cheaper go to Spain, Greece for vacations. Beer now cost between avg around 5 EUR. And in Vilnius, Porsche looks like avg car. Tech companies are growing and most expensive flats selling out first. It might not be rich yet, but we getting there.

[@HellDuke-]

I would say it's neither rich or poor. Lithuania is probably the country equivalent of middle class. To me the biggest factor is when you look at places like the US and the UK and you hear the major issue with housing where most people today have little hope to become a homeowner. While it's often a flat here in Lithuania, to me, it feels quite a lot less likely that it would be the case for a significant percentage of people looking for a home.

[@BaldManVisuals]

You should see the cars we are driving. 😂🙏🔥

[@bazinga-tt9pj]

@@BaldManVisuals lifestyle inflation

[@Remigijus-h3g]

Tik visi mato Vilnių,o kur visą Lietuvą,kur investicijų net nesimato tik viskas Vilniui 🤔 gaila,kad likusi Lietuva yra užmirštą 😢

[@Nitrucha]

It depends what's your income, if 4k+ euro you gonna feel alright with your family

[@sinchrotronas]

I’ve seen some footage from Širvintos :) When could we expect a video? Cheers!

[@LithuaniaExplained]

My video about širvintos is on the Lithuania Explained Vlog channel :) kzbin.info/www/bejne/sILWh6l8iLaYb6csi=wMdd_unb7c1ighYX

[@supermario6999]

Lithuania are in rebuilding process, thats what i see

[@constipatedwonka8061]

I wouldn't call Lithuania rich out of the principle that it still suffers from heavy emigration. It's not even brain drain, it feels like half of my extended family have moved to the nordic countries to do agricultural minimum wage jobs for which they get 5x more than if they were to do the same job back home. If you live rural, it does feel like majority of the benefits from westernization financially and even culturally came to benefit higher level urban classes. For such reasons there is a massive depopulation process going on in rural regions, which seems to be frequently dismissed or ignored. I guess there is a sort of cultural vice that plays a factor, left over from the soviet era, which makes certain people viewing those pursuing a better standard of living by moving someplace else with envy and/or disdain or even as traitorous, making addressing the problem even harder.

[@infiniteworld5855]

People don't even emigrate anymore since like 2018

[@povilasdev6636]

Currently, the main problem that state itself is underfunded. We needs better infrastructure and state sector institutions. Emigration is less of a problem right now as stats improved since late 2010s. It's still a risk emigration might still become popular due to underfunded state sector, lingering Post-Soviet cultural norms, or just random black swan event.

[@nosceteipsum2922]

Lithuania changed a lot in a small amount of time

[@laurynasg9932]

A lot of the income is not taxed or showed on your payslip...

[@jorislal]

It's 2024.

[@jygeb]

lol up until nowadays even dividends used for reinvestments are taxed

[@Fankas2000]

It's a rich country, but it's at the bottom of the list. Like a kid in a prestigious private school, who's parents rent their yacht instead of just owning it like everyone else's parents there.

[@orestas9648]

It is alot better in every part of Lithuania then it was in 90s. But we have a problem that wages are high in Vilnius then in Kaunas and Klaipėda little bit less and then we have everywere else which is low. And also we have a bunch of mixed problems. One thing that I don't like that people that works in simple jobs like shops, drivers and others that don't need high education treated like not good people or stupid. I would say we will be rich when all people will be nicer to each other. I was living in Ireland and I loved how people were treated. Main example you work as driver but you can go with your boss to get a beer in a pub. It would never happend in Lithuania.

[@dragonltu8349]

as local middle class per say by world view that work for myself's and earn a bit more than average person and have quite a bit land forest and even lake and can spend to take days of work etc. and work that works for poor and rich mainly because over took my father work ( and he still alive and helps out working together per say because he likes to talk to people and help out etc. ) lithuanian is just middle of being rich and poor at same time because alot of things can be rebuild and bring up average income per say and in general could be less tiny bit problem from country's leaders and politics even but still it is coming in way and people slowly and surely are just getting richer but still i would give it more 20 years per say to make it up top even then some people in country can't be saved because old gen still has old ways of thinking up things per say

[@benjaminellert7780]

Thank you for your information.

[@nosceteipsum2922]

In those "poor" houses live old people ... With more than 30 years who lived on the sovietic union

[@odinskiodinski9624]

Well. It's a poor rich country. And that's pretty allright. But there are many people of which I don't understand how they make ends meet. But they do. They need to raise the minimum wage in proportion to the increase in living costs. It's baffling what service sector workers earn. Someone can't sustain modern living costs on that.

[@tomaszaremba9120]

1:21 You have visited my town. Nice job.

[@gusramos3620]

Yes

[@REgamesplayer]

It is like Germany or France when it comes to capital. It is below that when it comes to Kaunas or Klaipėda. Then for the rest of the cities, it could be considered as poor or developing nation.

[@arturasnesakysiu1684]

Gov dont alow build new house unless house gone and builder builds rall building. But than we go to old town where all buildings counting 1000 years

[@domasbajorunas4514]

Theres why unemployment iš so low because when u get fired its easy to find a other job

[@birchheights6542]

There is no better statistics than GDP per capita PPP . And those numbers would put Lithuania in the middle in Europe and among more wealthier countries in the world .

[@alfonsasgrinevicius7477]

Moskviches and Ladas( Zhiguli) have disappeared. Instead, millions of Western, Japanese, Korean vehicles are zigzagging around. Lots of families own two/three cars. A lot more flights to holiday resorts abroad.Stores and hyper stores decorate my neighborhood:). Heaps of household utensils. Robotized mowing , cleaning, hovering...Rural tourism ; renovated mansions , well-equipped farmsteads. Dumpsters full of richer waste----a great difference from , let's say , 1994. Homeless folks look nicer and smell better. Old-style bribery in state institutions is being liquidated .Actually, a lot of poverty and lagging behind---was inherited from the Empire of Evil USSR.

[@infiniteworld5855]

Europe = rich

[@matasstonkus3382]

man, who knows…

[@slugma1054]

I mean we are pretty high income for our size.

[@jorislal]

@@slugma1054 not for our size. For the duration we had to develop independently.

[@DVladas]

Lithuania is almost like a small “Sweden”, very similar 🇸🇪🇱🇹 neighbors across the sea.

[@ASAS-dn4ve]

Lithuanian isn't rich country but safe enough. It is getting better every year. One can live here being poor, healthcare and social services provided. We donate and volunteer a lot, that is an indicator for me. Life is not easy here, some Ukrainian refugees work hard all month getting salaries not higher than unemployment benefits in Germany. On the other hand they're integrated here, active people like we all. What I see as nearest task in social development is integration of people with disabilities. We fall behind Old Europe dramatically.

[@LinasR]

Wooden houses cost millions only for land they stand on. All who lives there are millioners. If it was Russia there wouldn't be any wooden houses next to Bentley. This shows how safe is real estate in Vilnius and probably in most country. Or you get a free hint who would attack you if you start joking with threads or recommendations on how to live in that Šnipiškių district. BY has multiple businesses registered under "Giedraičių str. 2" which is the building where homeless don't live and is surrounded of highscrappers. It is all done intentionally.

[@aleksanderpetkevic3857]

1. The people have been living in those houses for decades, in a great location. 2. Do you believe they are REALLY being paid millions?

[@LinasR]

@aleksanderpetkevic3857 they don't and less than millions. It was to emphasise value of those worn houses

[@pawlap]

a Lithuania middle-class not reside in Lithuania those 1 100 000 people are living on half stated basis in countries like UK, DE, NO, ES etc and spend they earned abroad money in Lithuania

[@gignas1992]

Corruption and other things that soviet union instaled in us, is big reason for slowing that growth and keeping that wealth gap. As it was mentioned in video, wages went up in past few years, but more like before taxes, cause goverment changed the way how taxes are counted and payed 😊 But we are young, just 32 years of freedom, we are getting better, but that corruption mentality needs time to clean up 🙂

[@air1das]

yes.

[@vytisbortkunas7611]

Most other people like mother nature in clouding in Vilnius but other people like in Kaunas or other places they like to live like Lithuanian Andsisters from 986 like Vikings times make different video about lithuanian history like form Vikings times in to moder times

[@Mantorrro]

Those poor houses near business centers costs millions:) they are not selling them to get better offer, because it's near the city center

[@LithuaniaExplained]

Yes, the land is worth a lot. But if I understand things correctly, people living there won’t get any money until they sell and leave?

[@lukaskondrusevicius5065]

I guess if one would make a video about USA under the same criteria, the conclusion would be similar. I would say to much stress here on social equality. I guess the metric for richness should be either wealth per capita or gdp per capita. And if it is more than 75% of world result then Lithuania is rich. Anybody has the answer? :)

[@snaigenislala5589]

Go to city Palanga and film houses and cars :D

[@impostorsyndrome1350]

It's not that we're poor, it's that in this country, there is still Soviet mentality and exploitation of workers going around. Sometimes, a person has to work 5 people's jobs just so he could get that minimum salary, not to mention the bosses and thinking of people as slaves. There is also really Deep rooted networking without skills. You can know jacksht about something, but could be put in a higher position just cause you know someone or you're a family member of theirs. There is a reason our country is called "Švogerių kraštas" (which doesn't really have English translation, but it describes perfectly what I meant).

[@aleksandrasmiksenas317]

You're describing nepotism. It's most likely the biggest problem we have that makes inequality so difficult to solve.

[@impostorsyndrome1350]

@@aleksandrasmiksenas317 that's not nepotism, this is happening in my country, if you don't believe me means you never througouhly researched the job market in Lithuania, or never tried working a few jobs yourself

[@aleksandrasmiksenas317]

@@impostorsyndrome1350 My guy... i'm also Lithuanian. Getting a position because of family ties is BY DEFINITION Nepotism.

[@deividm.2121]

I think Lithuania underway to be rich. Old houses on this video most of them because old people living here and they dont want to sell even they worse milion due to location land it self.But in a future things will change...

[@Corgis175]

It would say it is inbetween. The poor we will always have with us sadly.

[@AlexSimkus-hw5oc]

LITHUANIA MENTIONED RAHHHHHH 🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🦅🦅🦅🦅🦅🦅🦅🦅🦅🦅

[@jygeb]

Having similar purchase power as Spaniards or Italians obviously means that we are globally rich. Average Lithuanian is richer than 85% people in the world.

[@tabithan2978]

Well, it seems much better off than Russia. Like most former USSR states.

[@1PunchKO100]

6:42 haha, you don't know how it works over here ;)

[@arturasnesakysiu1684]

For idiots, at begining hes looking at certain part of city center with very bad looking wooden houses which are in disrepair. You may say they are so poor wrong! One problem near those houses sits porshe ferari expensive brands cars. Than you look at sales in there and you will see nothing. last sale in no less as 5-6 million eur or more. Yeah now you get land cost.

[@ceslovassvetkauskas4766]

Lietuviai darbštūs, netingi dirbti, todėl šalies ekonomika auga, miestai, miesteliai ir kaimai gražėja.

[@impossiblegamer5464]

Let's be honest. Anyone in EU doesn't live in powerty comparing to the rest of the world.

[@TheKaukas]

Is Lithuania A Poor Country Or Rich Country? Answer: Yes

[@moralpolice]

Also, don't forget that Belarus has a bad quality nuclear station 30 km away from Vilnius

[@leokazakevicius1935]

True video / poor

[@neverforgottenful]

I would say Lithuania is on her way to be a rich country, how about that? I don't think Lithuania is a poor country. Rich? It's not there yet.

[@Veronikas_K45]

Definitely a poor country, I don't think LT is in the middle right now. I've been to LT multiple times and it sucks because so many locals are racist especially in Vilnius.

[@hanlan4763]

Pretty poor

[@kirstukas6262]

just come and check prices same shit like other countries.

[@AurimasPocius]

Dude, asking if Lithuania is rich or poor, put an outside toilet (lauko tualetas) on a thumbnail even though such toilets are forbidden in Lithuania from 2019 is a cheap shot to attract people:)

[@LithuaniaExplained]

It is a screenshot/frame from the Vilnius tourism promotion ad, which I reference in the video about expectations and reality. I think people who watch the video will understand the reference.