Lithuania considers 5% pay rise for some civil servants next year

Lithuania’s interior ministry is proposing a 5% pay increase for certain categories of civil servants in 2027, Interior Minister Vladislavas Kondratovičius announced on Thursday, LRT reports.

The planned raise would apply to employees in pay grades 4–10 whose salaries have not seen recent adjustments, Kondratovičius told a parliamentary session of the opposition Homeland Union–Lithuanian Christian Democrats faction. “We’re talking about 5%. This would cost around €30 million—no small sum,” he said.

The minister also outlined plans to reform the pension system for long-serving civil servants, proposing a one-time payout of €20,000–30,000 for those with at least 30 years of service and aged 55 or older. “This would encourage younger officers not to leave their posts,” he added.

Kondratovičius declined to specify the ministry’s total budget request for 2027, calling any figures premature before formal budget negotiations. He cited aging infrastructure and technology upgrades as pressing challenges alongside wage concerns.

Last year, parliament approved a 1–2% pay bump for the lowest-earning civil servants and a 10% increase in base salary coefficients for state employees, along with monthly €300 bonuses for those with 25+ years of service. The 2026 budget allocates €1.07 billion to the interior system.

Earlier, Kondratovičius had criticised below-planned wage growth for civil servants, attributing the shortfall to competing budget priorities.