{"id":209751,"date":"2026-10-30T13:44:33","date_gmt":"2026-10-30T10:44:33","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/longreads\/209751\/"},"modified":"2026-10-30T13:44:36","modified_gmt":"2026-10-30T10:44:36","slug":"poverty-lithuania-calls-to-action-belarus-makes-numbers-shine","status":"publish","type":"longreads","link":"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/longreads\/209751\/","title":{"rendered":"Poverty: Lithuania calls to action, Belarus makes numbers shine"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Belarus\u2019 state-run media have been discussing poverty in Lithuania, citing selected numbers that emphasize poverty risks while concealing indicators that might lead people to think that Lithuanians are better off than Belarusians.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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\n (freepik)<\/span>\n <\/div>\n <\/figcaption>\n<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

In Lithuania, one in five people is at risk <\/strong>of poverty <\/strong>\u2014 around 650,000 people.<\/strong> Belarusian state media have picked up these figures but remain silent on the main points: what exactly these indicators measure, who is considered poor in Europe and what the results would be if the same yardstick were applied to Belarus.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Citing data from Lithuania\u2019s State Data Agency, Lithuanian media report that 22.6 percent of the country\u2019s population was at risk of poverty in 2025, up 1.1 percentage points from the previous year. The broader indicator of risk of poverty or social exclusion stood at 26.3 percent, according to preliminary Eurostat data. Older people are particularly vulnerable: the share of people aged 65 and over at risk of poverty reached 39.2 percent, an increase of 2.3 percentage points in one year.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

However, it is important to distinguish between the two indicators. Income poverty risk refers to a situation in which a person\u2019s income, adjusted for household size, is below 60 percent of the national median. This category accounts for 22.6 percent of Lithuania\u2019s population.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The broader indicator of risk of poverty or social exclusion also includes people experiencing severe material and social deprivation or living in households, in which most of members do not work. Meeting any one of these conditions is sufficient to qualify; people who meet several are counted only once. This explains why the second figure is higher, at 26.3 percent.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Propaganda does not lie, but only technically<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

News of rising poverty in Lithuania has spread through Belarusian state media, which have contrasted their neighbor\u2019s hardships with alleged stability and prosperity in Belarus. The media cite only positive numbers: according to Bie\u0142stat, more than 93 percent of households are satisfied with their lives, while user trust for official statistics stood at 80.7 percent at the end of 2025.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Strictly speaking, Belarusian propaganda is not lying when it cites Lithuanian data. Moreover, severe poverty is not confined to Lithuania: in some European Union regions, social risks affect around half the population. According to Eurostat data for 2025, 54.8 percent of French Guiana\u2019s residents were at risk of poverty or social exclusion, as were 45.3 percent of residents in Italy\u2019s Calabria, 44 percent in Sicily, 43.7 percent in Spain\u2019s Melilla, and 42.3 percent on the French island of R\u00e9union. Across the EU as a whole, the figure was 20.9 percent of the population, or 92.7 million people.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

However, Belarusian state propaganda concealed some important details. First, Lithuania\u2019s at-risk-of-poverty threshold in 2025 was \u20ac699 per month for a person living alone.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The threshold varied considerably across other EU countries: \u20ac2,502 per month in Luxembourg, \u20ac1,827 in Austria and \u20ac1,810 in Denmark. At the other end of the scale were Romania, at \u20ac409, Hungary, at \u20ac440, and Bulgaria, at \u20ac443 per month. Even the Lithuanian figure, however, raises the question of how many Belarusians would fall below such a threshold.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Of course, mechanically applying Lithuania\u2019s monetary threshold to Belarus would be inappropriate. Differences in prices, purchasing power and several other factors must be taken into account.<\/p>\n\n\n