Fewer Lithuanians say country is moving in the right direction
Saturday 19th September 2026 on 08:30 in
Lithuania
Fewer people in Lithuania believe the country’s situation is improving, according to a survey reported by LRT. Some 65 percent of adults surveyed said conditions are worsening, while 27 percent said they are improving.
The poll, commissioned by ELTA and conducted by Baltijos tyrimai at the end of August, found that the share of respondents who saw improvement had fallen by seven percentage points from July, when it stood at 34 percent.
Compared with a survey conducted in August last year, the proportion who believe the situation is worsening remained unchanged at 65 percent. Over the past year, the share who saw improvement fell by five percentage points, while the same proportion said conditions were neither improving nor worsening. Eight percent said they had no opinion.
People under 30 were the most likely to say that conditions were improving, at 41 percent. Other groups with above-average optimism included residents of major cities, at 35 percent; people with higher education, at 36 percent; respondents whose monthly household income exceeded 2,500 euros, at 32 percent; managers, at 38 percent; students, at 49 percent; and respondents with right-wing views, at 32 percent.
Older people and rural residents were more likely to say the situation was worsening. This view was expressed by 70 percent of those aged over 50 and 76 percent of people living in rural areas. Among workers and farmers, 72 percent gave the same response.
Opposition party supporters most pessimistic
Supporters of the opposition Nemuno aušra party, led by Remigijus Žemaitaitis, were the most dissatisfied, with 87 percent saying the situation was worsening.
The most optimistic group was supporters of the Liberal Movement, led by Viktorija Čmilytė-Nielsen, with 42 percent saying conditions were improving. The figure was 39 percent among supporters of the Social Democratic Party of Lithuania, led by Mindaugas Sinkevičius, and 36 percent among supporters of the Union of Democrats For Lithuania, led by Virginijus Sinkevičius.
The survey was conducted from August 20 to 31 among 1,019 Lithuanian residents aged 18 and over, through in-person interviews at 107 sampling points. The margin of error was up to 3.1 percentage points.