Close to 20% of people in Lithuania live in poverty, while the wealth divide in the country is very large.

Omissions

• The actual figure is slightly higher than 'close to 20%': 21.5% (2024) and 22.6% (2025, EU-SILC 2025 — the most recent data available before the session), so the claim mildly understates the poverty rate.
• The metric refers to relative income poverty (at-risk-of-poverty rate, AROP), not absolute poverty or material deprivation; the EU's broader AROPE indicator (at risk of poverty or social exclusion) was even higher, at 25.8% in 2024 and 26.3% in 2025.
• The 'wealth divide very large' element is corroborated: per EU-SILC 2025, Lithuania recorded the highest at-risk-of-poverty rate in the entire EU (22.6%).

Sources

• PrimaryEurostat — Statistics Explained, 'Latest developments in income dynamics and poverty'According to EU-SILC 2025, Lithuania (22.6%), Latvia (22.0%), and Bulgaria (21.2%) recorded the highest at-risk-of-poverty rates.
• PrimaryOficialiosios statistikos portalas (Lithuanian official statistics portal) — Skurdo rizikos lygis...skurdo rizikos ribą, gavo 20,9 proc. šalies gyventojų. Mieste skurdo rizikos lygis 2022 m. siekė 19,7 proc., kaime – 23,3 proc. (...received income below the at-risk-of-poverty threshold — 20.9% of the country's residents. In cities the at-risk-of-poverty rate in 2022 was 19.7%, in rural areas 23.3%.)
• SecondaryCaritas Lithuania — 'Augant pajamoms, augo ir skurdo rizika'Skurdo rizikos lygis Lietuvoje 2024 m. didėjo 0,9 procentinio punkto ir sudarė 21,5 proc. Apie 620 tūkst. šalies gyventojų pernai gyveno žemiau skurdo... (The at-risk-of-poverty rate in Lithuania rose by 0.9 percentage points in 2024 to 21.5%; about 620,000 residents lived below the poverty threshold.)
• SecondaryBundesamt für Statistik (Swiss Federal Statistical Office) — 'At-risk-of-poverty rate in Europe, 2024'At-risk-of-poverty rate in Europe, 2024: Türkiye 22.2; Bulgaria 21.7; Latvia 21.6; Lithuania 21.5; Croatia 20.3.
• Secondary15min.lt — 'Internautai dedasi ekonomistais, bet painiojasi rodikliuose'Kaip jau minėjome, asmenų, kuriems gresia skurdas ar socialinė atskirtis, dalis Lietuvoje 2025 m. buvo 26,3 proc. (As noted, the share of people at risk of poverty or social exclusion in Lithuania in 2025 was 26.3%.)