The share of the population who consider themselves “middle class” has fallen by 3 points over the last year, according to a survey by Swedbank. Still, 51 percent of Lithuania’s residents identify with the category.
“We still have a strong half of the society that identifies itself as middle class, but it is shrinking, albeit by a few percentage points,” Jūratė Cvilikienė, head of Swedbank’s Institute of Finance, said at a press conference on Tuesday.
“The figure is high if we compare ourselves with Latvians and Estonians. However, what is a little sad and what shows that the growth of the middle class has been exhausted and stopped is the numbers in the past,” the bank analyst said.
In 2023, 54 percent of the population identified themselves as middle class, 55 percent in 2022, 59 percent in 2020, and 58 percent in 2019.
According to Cvilikienė, women, people aged 25–35 with college education, residents of big cities and married people were more likely to identify with the middle class, as were farmers (68%), professionals (62%), and managers (59%).
“According to these parameters, artificial intelligence even helped us to paint a picture of an imaginary person who could be middle-class – standing in the countryside, but looking at the city,” the Swedbank analyst said.
Cvilikienė stressed that the respondents were not given any criteria for defining the middle class during the survey.
However, according to her, the most important criterion for being in the middle class was owning real estate (53%).
“Real estate, the greatest love of Lithuanians is not going anywhere. Owning a home in Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia is the most important criterion for a person who says that he or she feels middle-class,” said Cvilikienė.
Other criteria include travelling abroad at least once a year for at least a week (41%), saving for retirement (37%), having savings equivalent to at least three months’ income (34%), being able to pay off loans and other essential expenses (32%), and a university degree (31%).
“By most definitions, a middle-class person is someone who does not worry about how to pay for food and debts. They can afford services, go to private doctors if they need to, they are safe, have a safety net, and are provided for their old age,” she said.
According to her, the number of respondents who identify themselves as lower middle class has increased by 3 points this year to 34 percent, while the number of respondents who identify themselves as upper middle class has remained stable at 7 percent. Only 0.3 percent of respondents said they thought of themselves as “elite”.
“Where did people who used to classify themselves as middle class go? Unfortunately, they are classifying themselves as lower middle class now. [...] Meanwhile the number of those saying they’re upper middle class or elite remains quite stable,” said Cvilikienė.
According to her, men, large city residents, professionals with college education are more likely to classify themselves as upper middle class.
According to the survey, 8 percent of the population consider themselves disadvantaged or poor, an increase of 2 points compared to last year.
According to Greta Ilekytė, senior economist at Swedbank, the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) defines the middle class as people with incomes between 75 and 200 percent of the national median wage, which in Lithuania would be between 1,363 and 3,634 euros a month before taxes.
Eight percent satisfied with their income
At the same time, the share of people who are satisfied with their income increased by 3 points to 8 percent over the year.
“Of course, this is not only influenced by financial parameters, but also by the geopolitical situation: it is important that I am calm, I have enough, I have a house, I can cover my loans and liabilities, I can afford it, and I have enough,” said Cvilikienė.
According to the survey, 53 percent of the population say they have enough money for basic needs, 24 percent can afford more expensive items with little or no saving, and 21 percent have only enough money for basic needs.
The percentage of respondents who often do not have enough money even for food is 2 percent, according to the survey.
On average, the survey shows, people would like to earn 53-percent more to feel dignified. A year ago, the figure was 55 percent, while in 2019, it was 72.
When it comes to future outlook, 28 percent of the respondents expect a real increase in their income over the next 12 months. The majority of 57 percent, however, think their income will remain the same, while 15 percent expect a drop.
The representative survey of the country’s population was carried out at the end of May by the research company Spinter Tyrimai, interviewing 1,016 people aged 18–75.
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