Demographics of Vilnius

Vilnius is the historic and present-day capital of Lithuania. Records of demographic measures go back to 1766, though the city itself has existed much longer. In recent days, the demographics have been heavily influenced by the war in neighboring Ukraine.

Demographics of Vilnius
Population pyramid of the Vilnius City in 2021
Population633,481 (2023)

Current Demographics edit

After the Russian invasion of Ukraine and an influx of Ukrainian refugees to Lithuania, who were granted a refugee status[1] the number of inhabitants of Vilnius rose to 636,209 as of February 2024 (according to the municipality of Vilnius). The number of inhabitants of Vilnius, born in Ukraine rose from 10 thousand to 29 thousand between 2021 and 2023. The number of persons born in Belarus rose from 25 thousand to 37 thousand during the same period mostly as a consequence of 2020–2021 Belarusian protests and intensified fleeing abroad of its citizens. Also, numbers of persons, who settle in Vilnius, coming from Central Asia, Caucasus, African, Asian (most notably - India) countries are on the rise.[2]

As of late 2023, 73 thousand foreigners lived in Vilnius, up from 38 thousand a year and a half earlier. In January 2022, there were also 5 000 foreign minors living in Vilnius, but the number had risen to 13 000 in January 2023.[3]

Before these dramatic changes, what led to the sharp rise of the number of inhabitants, the city of Vilnius as of early 2021 had a population between 569,729[4][5] (according to Statistics Lithuania) and 588,412[6] (according to the State Enterprise Centre of Registers). According to the municipality of Vilnius, the city had a population of 597,610[2] as of May 2022 – the figure includes Grigiškės, a formally separate town within the municipality of the capital, but without a separate body of a town government except that of a Vilnius city district (seniūnija). The actual number of city inhabitants could be higher as according to the Vilnius territorial health insurance fund, there were 732,815 permanent inhabitants as of January 2021 in Vilnius city and Vilnius district municipalities combined[7][note 1].

According to the predictions, made by the municipality specialists of the city planning department of Vilnius, the number of inhabitants of Vilnius in 2030 could be between 630,3 thousand (pessimistic scenario) and 685 thousand (optimistic scenario) with the basic scenario of 651,6 thousand inhabitants within the city borders.[9]

Evolution edit

Demographic evolution of Vilnius between 1766 and 2024:

Historical population
YearPop.±% p.a.
176660,000—    
1796¹17,500−4.02%
180025,400+9.76%
181156,300+7.50%
1818²33,600−7.11%
182243,900+6.91%
183042,000−0.55%
183452,400+5.69%
183656,100+3.47%
183954,700−0.84%
184654,200−0.13%
185265,400+3.18%
186060,000−1.07%
187064,200+0.68%
187582,700+5.19%
1885102,900+2.21%
1897154,500+3.44%
1909205,200+2.39%
1911238,600+7.83%
1916140,800−10.01%
1919³128,500−3.00%
YearPop.±% p.a.
1923167,400+6.83%
1931195,100+1.93%
1939209,400+0.89%
1941⁴270,000+13.55%
1944⁵110,000−25.87%
1959236,100+5.22%
1970372,100+4.22%
1979481,000+2.89%
1985544,400+2.09%
1989576,700+1.45%
1990597,000+3.52%
1992644,600+3.91%
1995578,327−3.55%
1996571,164−1.24%
1997565,881−0.92%
1998562,353−0.62%
1999558,816−0.63%
2000554,281−0.81%
2001550,924−0.61%
2002550,213−0.13%
2003548,729−0.27%
YearPop.±% p.a.
2004546,773−0.36%
2005542,525−0.78%
2006541,732−0.15%
2007541,596−0.03%
2008542,969+0.25%
2009543,191+0.04%
2010536,127−1.30%
2011533,279−0.53%
2012537,152+0.73%
2013539,707+0.48%
2014542,626+0.54%
2015543,493+0.16%
2016545,280+0.33%
2017547,484+0.40%
2018552,131+0.85%
2019561,836+1.76%
2020569,729+1.40%
2021563,012−1.18%
2022576,195+2.34%
2023593,436+2.99%
2024602,430+1.52%
Source: [10][11]: 214, 303 [12][13] ¹ Sharp decline after the Vilnius uprising (1794); ² Decline of population due to Napoleonic wars and the aftermath; ³ Sharp decline of population of Vilnius because of World War I and the aftermath during the clashes around Vilnius. These resulted in evacuation of Russian military, bureaucracy and the majority of its Russian inhabitants from Vilnius in 1915, as well as fleeing or evacuation of other Vilnius inhabitants of various communities (mostly Jewish and Lithuanian) to Russia and rural parts of Lithuania;[14][15] ⁴ Rise of population due to influx of Polish and Jewish war refugees[16] and migration of Lithuanian bureaucracy, students from temporary capital Kaunas and other localities in Lithuania; ⁵ Sharp decline of population after atrocities of World War II and The Holocaust[17][18]

Vilnius inhabitants by ethnicity edit

Year Lithuanians Poles Russians Jews Others Total
1897[19] 3,131 2% 47,795 31% 30,967 20% 61,847 40% 10,792 7% 154,532
1916[20]   3,669 2.6%   70,629 50.1%   2,080 1.5%   61,265 43.5%   3,217 2.3%   140,840
1917[21]   2,909 2.1%   74,466 53.65%   2,212 1.6%   57,516 41.44%   1,872 0.77%   138,787
1919[20]   2,900 2.3%   72,067 56.1%   4,049 3.2%   46,506 36.2%   2,954 2.3%   128,476
1923[20]   1,445 0.9%   100,830 60.2%   4,669 2.8%   56,168 33.5%   4,342 2.6%   167,454
1931[22]   1,579 0.8%   128,628 65.9%   7,372 3.8%   54,596 28%   1,159 0.6%   195,071
1941[23]   52,370 28.1%   94,511 50.7%   6.712 3.6%   30,179 16.2%   2,541 1.4%   186,313
1942[20]   29,480 20.5%   103,203 71.9%   6,012 2% - -   1,220 0.4%   143,498
1951[20]   55,300 30.8%   37,700 21%   59,700 33.3%   5,500 3.1%   21,100 11.8%   179,300
1959[24]   79,363 33.6%   47,226 20%   69,416 29.4%   16,354 6.9%   23,719 10%   236,078
1970[20]   159,156 42.8%   68,261 18.6%   91,004 24.5%   16,491 4.4%   37,188 10%   372,100
1979[20]   225,137 47.3%   85,562 18%   105,618 22.2%   10,723 2.3%   48,785 10.3%   475,825
1989[20]   291,527 50.5%   108,239 18.8%   116,618 20.2%   9,109 1.6%   51,524 8.9%   576,747
2001[25]   318,510 57.5%   104,446 18.9%   77,698 14.1%   2,770 0.5%   50,480 9.1%   553,904
2011[26]   337,000 63.2%   88,380 16.5%   64,275 12%   2,026 0.4%   45,976 8.6%   535,631
2021[27]   373,511 67.1%   85,438 15.4%   53,886 9.7% N/A   43,655 7.8%   556,490
Vilnius inhabitants by ethnicity (results of the 2011 census)[28]
Number of inhabitants
Lithuanians 338,758
Poles 88,408
Russians 63,991
Belarusians 18,924
Ukrainians 5,338
Jews 2,026
Tatars 934
Roma 619
Armenians 435
Latvians 360
Germans 341
Other 2,065
Refused to answer 13,432
Total 535,631
Vilnius inhabitants by ethnicity (results of the 2021 census)
Number of inhabitants
Lithuanians 373,513
Poles 85,436
Russians 53,887
Belarusians 15,156
Ukrainians 4,687
Other 5,705
Refused to answer 18,112
Total 556,490

Vilnius inhabitants by the country of birth edit

Vilnius inhabitants by the country of birth (as of March 2023)[2]
Country of birth Number of inhabitants
   Lithuania 522,481
  Belarus 37,197
  Ukraine 29,336
  Russia 20,834
  Great Britain 2,330
  Kazakhstan 1,938
   Latvia 1,393
   Germany 1,089
  Uzbekistan 941
  Azerbaijan 931
  Kyrgyzstan 766
   Poland 757
  Georgia 688
  United States of America 683
  India 624
  Tajikistan 540
  Turkey 519
  Moldova 510
   Ireland 469
   Italy 388
  Norway 387
  Armenia 380
   Estonia 379
    France 367
   Spain 253
  China 245
  Nigeria 216
   Belgium 209
   Denmark 207
  Turkmenistan 179
   Netherlands 179
  Syria 177
  Afghanistan 170
  Cameroon 151
   Sweden 147
  Pakistan 144
  Iran 139
  Egypt 125
  Israel 103
   Finland 96
   Hungary 88
  Canada 81
   Portugal 81
  Brazil 79
  Lebanon 78
   Switzerland 77
   Czech Republic 74
   Austria 70
  Thailand 69
  Vietnam 64
  United Arab Emirates 59
  Argentina 57
   Greece 56
  Mexico 56
  Australia 54
   Romania 49
   Bulgaria 47
   Cyprus 45
  Japan 44
  South Korea 37
  Serbia 36
  Colombia 35
  Iceland 35
  Morocco 35
  South Africa 35
   Slovakia 34
  Venezuela 32
  Iraq 30
    Nepal 30
   Luxembourg 28
  Indonesia 27
  Tunisia 25
  Saudi Arabia 24
  Bangladesh 22
  Ghana 22
  Mongolia 22
  Albania 20
  Algeria 20
  Eritrea 20
Other countries 421
Vilnius inhabitants by the country of birth (2021)[2]
Country of birth Number of inhabitants
   Lithuania 517,936
  Belarus 25,591
  Russia 18,731
  Ukraine 10,158
  Great Britain 2,239
  Kazakhstan 1,598
   Latvia 1,335
   Germany 954
   Poland 752
  United States of America 618
  Uzbekistan 578
  Azerbaijan 496
  Georgia 474
   Ireland 470
  India 408
  Moldova 384
   Italy 378
   Estonia 373
  Norway 364
    France 341
  Turkey 329
  Armenia 316
  Kyrgyzstan 297
  China 283
   Spain 254
  Tajikistan 209
   Belgium 189
   Denmark 187
  Turkmenistan 153
   Netherlands 149
   Sweden 140
  Nigeria 122
  Iran 120
  Cameroon 114
  Syria 109
  Serbia 98
   Finland 97
  Egypt 91
  Israel 87
  Pakistan 79
  Vietnam 79
   Hungary 77
   Portugal 73
   Austria 70
  Canada 70
   Switzerland 67
   Czech Republic 67
  Brazil 64
  Afghanistan 51
  Lebanon 51
  Australia 50
  Thailand 49
   Greece 46
  Mexico 45
  Argentina 44
   Bulgaria 44
  United Arab Emirates 41
  Japan 40
  South Korea 36
   Cyprus 31
   Luxembourg 28
  Iceland 27
   Slovakia 27
  Colombia 26
   Romania 26
    Nepal 24
  Albania 23
  Iraq 23
  Morocco 22
Other countries 500

Elderships of Vilnius edit

Population figures of Vilnius by the city eldership (2021)[2]
Eldership Area
km²[29]
Inhabitants[30] Density
per km²
Verkiai 56 50,881 909
Žirmūnai 5.7 43,880 7698
Pašilaičiai 7.9 41,218 5217
Antakalnis 77.2 40,875 530
Naujoji Vilnia 38.6 39,102 1013
Fabijoniškės 5.9 38,027 9275
Naujamiestis 4.9 33,206 6777
Lazdynai 9.9 32,410 3274
Naujininkai 37.6 31,697 843
Šeškinė 4.6 29,809 6480
Pilaitė 13.9 28,335 2038
Justiniškės 3.0 26,684 8895
Karoliniškės 3.7 25,250 6824
Senamiestis 4.4 22,411 5093
Vilkpėdė 10.8 19,519 1807
Šnipiškės 3.1 15,750 5081
Viršuliškės 2.6 14,096 5422
Žvėrynas 2.6 13,703 5270
Rasos 16.3 11,666 716
Grigiškės 7.0 11,246 1607
Paneriai 84.8 10,537 124
Undeclared inhabitants 9,123
Total 400.5 589,425 1472

See also edit

Notes edit

  1. ^ Some inhabitants of Vilnius district were registered at Vilnius city healthcare facilities – the actual number of permanent city inhabitants within the city administrative borders must have been higher than official figures of 569, 588 or 589 thousand, but smaller than 643,965 (as of 31 December 2020)[8]

References edit

  1. ^ WAR REFUGEES FROM UKRAINE, Statistics of Lithuania
  2. ^ a b c d e Statistics of Vilnius
  3. ^ Number of foreigners living in Lithuania surpasses 200,000
  4. ^ "Nuolatinių gyventojų skaičius apskrityse ir savivaldybėse metų pradžioje". osp.stat.gov.lt. Archived from the original on 2020-02-03. Retrieved 9 March 2020.
  5. ^ "Vilniaus istorija". vle.lt. Retrieved 15 January 2020.
  6. ^ State Enterprise Centre of Registers of Lithuania
  7. ^ "Health Insurance Fund under the Ministry of Health". Archived from the original on 2021-01-28. Retrieved 2021-01-20.
  8. ^ Inhabitants, registered at Vilnius city primary healthcare facilities
  9. ^ Vilniaus miesto darnaus judumo plano santrauka, Vilniaus planas, page 48
  10. ^ "Gyventoju skaicius pagal savivaldybes 2023" (PDF). Registrucentras.lt. 2023-01-05.
  11. ^ Juozas Jurginis; Vytautas Merkys; Adolfas Tautavičius (1968). Vilniaus miesto istorija [Vilnius city history] (in Lithuanian). Vilnius.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
  12. ^ Lexykon geograficzny, dla gruntownego poięcia gazet i historyi z różnych autorów zebrany, przetłumaczony i napisany przez x. Hilaryona Karpińskiego, Z. S. Bazylego w prowincyi litewskiey kapłana i teologa. Po śmierci iego, z przydatkiem odmian, które zaszły, z wykładem na początku terminów geograficznych, i słownikiem nazwisk łacińskich na końcu położonym, do druku podany [A geographic Lexicon, for the thorough help of newspapers and histories from various authors collected, translated and written by x. Hilaryon Karpiński, Z. S. Bazyli in the provinces and a Lithuanian priest and theologian. After the death of iego, with the advent of variations that have occurred, with a lecture at the beginning of geographical terms, and a dictionary of Latin names at the end, printed for publication] (in Polish). Vilnius. 1766. p. 602. Mieszkancow zaś dufz liczy na 60,000.
  13. ^ Słownik geograficzny Królestwa Polskiego i innych krajów słowiańskich, Tom XIII [Geographical dictionary of the Kingdom of Poland and other Slavic countries, Volume XIII] (in Polish). Warsaw. 1893. p. 493. Retrieved 10 March 2018.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
  14. ^ "The Great War in Lithuania 1914–1918".
  15. ^ Pukienė, Vida. "Voronežas – lietuvių švietimo židinys Rusijoje Pirmojo pasaulinio karo metais". Istorija (in Lithuanian).[permanent dead link]
  16. ^ Iš nežinios į nežinią: Antrojo pasaulinio karo atbėgėliai Lietuvoje [From one uncertainty to another uncertainty: World War II refugees in Lithuania] (in Lithuanian). Kaunas: National M.K. Čiurlionis Art Museum. 2015. ISBN 978-9955-471-55-4.
  17. ^ "Resident population by city / town at the middle of the year". Vilnius. Statistics Department of Lithuania. 1 July 2023. Retrieved 24 July 2023.
  18. ^ "Resident population on 1 January". osp.stat.gov.lt. 2024-01-22.
  19. ^ Первая всеобщая перепись населения Российской Империи 1897 г. – Вильна [First general census of the Russian Empire in 1897 – Vilna] (in Russian).
  20. ^ a b c d e f g h Srebrakowski 2000, p. 129.
  21. ^ Brensztejn 1919, p. 24.
  22. ^ "Drugi powszechny spis ludności z dn. 9.XII.1931 r. Miasto Wilno" [Second general population census of 9.12.1931. Vilnius city] (in Polish).
  23. ^ Srebrakowski 2020, p. 47.
  24. ^ Snyder, Timothy (2003). The Reconstruction of Nations: Poland, Ukraine, Lithuania, Belarus, 1569–1999. Yale University Press. pp. 92–93. ISBN 978-0-300-10586-5.
  25. ^ "Gyventojai [Population]" (PDF). Statistics Department of Lithuania. Archived from the original (PDF) on 17 April 2012.
  26. ^ Lietuvos gyventojai 2011 metais (2011 m. gyventojų surašymo rezultatai / Lithuanian 2011 Population Census in Brief) [Population of Lithuania in 2011 (Population Census 2011 results)]. Statistics Department of Lithuania. ISBN 978-9955-797-17-3. Retrieved 11 March 2019.
  27. ^ "Rodiklių duomenų bazė - Oficialiosios statistikos portalas". Osp.stat.gov.lt. Retrieved 28 February 2022.
  28. ^ Lietuvos Respublikos 2011 m. gyventojų surašymo rezultatai, 162-163 p.
  29. ^ Vilnius city elderships by the area
  30. ^ Vilnius elderships by the number of inhabitants

Works cited edit