Emigration was the main cause for the drop – the number of emigrants was higher by 21,600 people than immigrants over the past year.
Some 43,000 people declared emigration from Lithuania last year, while immigration stood at 21,400. The Statistics Department noted that emigration numbers dropped in 2012, as compared with the year before, while the number of Lithuanian citizens returning to their home country went up.
Another key factor behind the population decrease last year was the number of deaths exceeding the number of births by 6,800.
Women make up 54 percent of the population, while men account for 46 percent. One in six men and one in four women are over the age of 60. Two thirds live in cities and a third in rural areas.
Some 20,600 marriages and 10,300 divorces were registered in Lithuania in 2012.
A census carried out in 2001 indicated the total population of Lithuania at the time of 3.48 million. A decade before, it stood at 3.7 million.
