Analytics, History, Lithuania, Society, Transport

In early 1990, Lithuania had 3 million 694,000 residents, while in early 2015, according to preliminary data, the number stood at 2 million 922,000. The number of residents in 25 years decreased by one fifth. The share of rural and urban population remained basically unchanged. In 1990, 68% lived in cities, in rural areas – 32%. According to preliminary data from early 2015, 67% lived in cities and 33% in rural areas; compared to 1990, the number of city dwellers decreased by 21.9%, the number of residents in rural areas went down by 18.7%.

Back in 1990, the most popular passenger car brands were Soviet VAZ and Moskvitch. While now the most popular are brands from Western car-makers: Volkswagen, Audi, Opel, Ford, and Reno. In 1990, the share of passenger cars for 1,000 residents was 129 vehicles, while in 2013 it was four times more – 562.

From 1994 to 2014, the minimum monthly wage had grown 17.8 times and in 2014 stood at EUR 292 (in 1990 – EUR 16.4). The ratio of the minimum monthly wage and gross average monthly salary in 1994 was 17.4%, now – 43.2%.

As in the first years of independence, the largest share of residents' expenses still is used to buy food products and non-alcoholic beverages. However, this share had shrunk nearly by half: in 1992 it accounted for 44.8%, while in 2014 – for 24.7% of total household monetary consumption expenditure.