Lithuania

Last update: October, 2025

In 2024, Lithuania's GDP at current prices was 77.94 billion EUR, and GDP per capita at current prices was 27 150 EUR (data from World Bank Group). In 2023, Lithuania's GDP at current prices was 73.8 billion EUR, and GDP per capita at current prices was 25 700 EUR. Total general government expenditure was 30.99 billion EUR in 2024, and 27.58 billion EUR in 2023. Public expenditure on recreation, culture and religion* at all levels of government in 2023 was 912.8 million EUR. The central government’s share of expenditure was 465.1 million EUR, and the share of local governments was 447.7 million EUR. Public expenditure on recreation, culture and religion as a percentage of the total public expenditure was 3.3 %, and as a percentage of GDP was 1.2 %. Public expenditure on recreation, culture and religion per capita was 326 EUR.

Figure 4. General government expenditure in Lithuania in 2023

Source: Official Statistics Portal
*Public expenditure on culture (ESA 2010) comprises data of the indicator CG080 “recreation, culture and religion” as it is presented in the database of the Lithuanian State Data Agency and Eurostat according to the COFOG 1999.

Over the last five years, the total public expenditure on recreation, culture and religion has been gradually increasing. Consequently, per capita cultural expenditure has also increased, both as a result of increasing appropriations for culture and population decline. The share in GDP of expenditure for culture has not changed substantially since 2015 to 2019, and was about 1% of GDP. In 2020, it increased to 1.4 %, but in 2021 decreased to 1.2% of GDP and remained at the same level till 2023.

Table 37: GDP and public expenditure on culture in 2015–2023

Source: Eurostat

Last update: October, 2025

Table 38. Public cultural expenditure by level of government, 2023

Source:  Eurostat

Last update: October, 2025

There is no official information on the direct government expenditure on culture by sector in Lithuania. The data can only be compiled approximately according to the Annual Budget Reports of the Lithuanian Ministry of Culture, the Law on the Approval of Financial Indicators of the State Budget and Municipal Budgets for the corresponding year, annual reports of the Lithuanian Council for Culture, the Film Centre, and the Media Support Fund. The data shows that the largest share of state funding is allocated to the field of cultural heritage (35.11%). Performing arts (24.95 %), and audiovisual media (20.04%) rank second and third. Some fields (photography, interdisciplinary arts) receive funding only from the Lithuanian Council for Culture, and in the broader context it is so small that it is not shown in the aggregate statistics presented in the Council’s reports. Cultural education projects are likewise not listed as a separate line, because they are carried out by almost all cultural institutions, and the funds allocated to them by the Ministry of Culture are counted as part of the general funds allocated to the organization.

Table 39: Direct state cultural expenditure by sector, 2024, in 1000 of EUR

Sources: data is compiled on the basis of the database Lithuanian Finances, Law of the Republic of Lithuania on the Approval of the Financial Indicators of the State Budget and Municipal Budgets for 2024, Annual report of the Lithuanian Council for Culture and The media Support Fund.

Last update: October, 2025

In Lithuania, several institutions provide financial support for artists and culture through funding programmes: the Ministry of Culture of the Republic of Lithuania, the Lithuanian Council for Culture, the Press, Radio, and Television Support Foundation, the Film Centre, and the Lithuanian Culture Institute.

The Ministry of Culture allocates the biggest share of state financing for culture through direct institutional funding. It also implements a range of special programmes designated to support various fields of culture: the Reading Promotion Programme, Competition Lithuanian Capital of Culture, Programme of Lithuanistics Traditions and Heritage, Funding Programme of Projects Implementing Initiatives to Preserve Historical Memory, several heritage protection programmes, Programme of Partial Compensation of the Cost of Dissemination (Venue Hire) of Professional Performing Arts Projects, Programme for the Partial Funding from the State Budget of Professional Performing Arts Institutions that Are not National, State or Municipal Theatre or Concert Institution (see chapter 3.3 for more about the last two programmes). The Ministry, in cooperation with the Lithuanian Film Centre and Lithuanian Culture Institute, also coordinates the participation of Lithuania in EU funding programmes Creative Europe and Europe for Citizens.

Other institutions – the Lithuanian Council for Culture, the Media Support Fund, the Film Centre, and the Lithuanian Culture Institute ­– implement financing programmes and allocate funding through calls for tender. Their budget consists of appropriations allocated by the Ministry of Culture.

The Lithuanian Culture Institute implements the Translation Grant programme. The Translation Grant Programme encourages the translation of Lithuanian literature into foreign languages, it has been ongoing in Lithuania since 2001. The programme was first run by the public institution “Books from Lithuania”, but since 2010, the work has been continued by the Lithuanian Culture Institute. Over the 25 years since the establishment of the programme, it has supported the translation of  568 Lithuanian literary works into 53 languages. The Lithuanian Culture Institute also provides information about Lithuanian authors to foreign publishers, publishing and translation houses and organisations; organises presentations of Lithuanian writers’ books at international book fairs, creative symposiums, and other events. Its annual budget in 2024 was about 5.1 million EUR.

The Media Support Fund provides support for the projects and activities of public information producers and/or disseminators under the following programs (priority areas): cultural media and cultural periodicals (i.e. publications in which at least 4/5 of the content is devoted to describing cultural or artistic phenomena, providing professional evaluations of them, analysing and reporting on cultural events in Lithuania and worldwide, and disseminating artistic creation); regional media; news, investigative, and educational journalism; media in the languages of national minorities and media of the Lithuanian diaspora; other programs prepared by the Fund’s Council, taking into account the priorities of the development of information culture and public communication, as well as the strengthening of information security and societal resilience, and approved by the General Assembly of the Fund’s members. The annual budget of the Fund in 2024 was about 6.5 million EUR.

The Lithuanian Film Centre allocates subsidies for the development, production and distribution of Lithuanian films and international co-productions. Its annual budget in 2024 was about 11 million EUR.

The Lithuanian Council for Culture implements the greatest number of funding programmes and allocates the biggest share of programme financing. The Council implements several types of financing measures: funding of projects by cultural programmes and arts fields, funding of individual grants for artists, strategic funding and funding for regional councils. Financing of arts fields includes projects of architecture, circus, design, visual arts, photography, literature, music, dance, interdisciplinary arts, theatre. Projects funded by the arts fields programme have to be targeted at the following activities: 1) professional creation and its dissemination in Lithuania and abroad; 2) events; 3) accumulation of information (archiving, documentation) and its dissemination; 4) publishing; 5) professional criticism and analysis; 6) networking and mobility; 7) co-production; 8) mastery development and education. Cultural programmes financed by the Council in 2024 were the following: Memory institutions, Protection of copyright and related rights, Commemoration and civic education, Networking, Ethnic culture and intangible cultural heritage, Dissemination of professional performing arts, Education through culture, Creative community initiatives, International music performance competitions, Art for human well-being.

Table 41: Budgets of the Lithuanian Council for Culture, the Media Support Foundation, the Film Centre, and the Lithuanian Culture Institute in 2024 (in millions EUR)

Sources: data is compiled on the basis of the Annual Budget Reports of Ministry of Culture, 2024 and Law On Approval Of Financial Indicators Of The State Budget And Municipal Budgets For 2024

Besides Lithuanian funding programmes, the artists can also apply for funding to international programmes, e.g. Nordic-Baltic mobility programme for culture: support to artists’ residencies. The Nordic-Baltic Mobility Programme for Culture aims to strengthen artistic and cultural cooperation in the Nordic region and Baltic States. The programme focuses on increasing the exchange of knowledge, contacts, presence and interest in Nordic and Baltic art and culture. The Nordic-Baltic Mobility Programme comprises three forms of funding: mobility, network and funding for artist residencies.

Last update: October, 2025

There are not many special funds in Lithuania dedicated to supporting artists of various fields. The oldest one is the Lithuanian Musicians Support Fund, established in 1992. The Fund is a public charity organisation and publishing house, which supports the development of Lithuanian musicians' creative activities, commemoration of musicians, promotion of music, and patronises talented musicians and music veterans. The Fund implements 12 programmes, such as various competitions, festivals and education programmes.

The Lithuanian Writers Union Foundation aims to give benefits to the members of the LWU and support programmes that correspond to the aims of the Foundation or its subdivisions. In accordance to the Law on Charity and Sponsorship Funds of the Republic of Lithuania, the Literary Foundation supports publishing of fiction literature, especially the original type, management and publishing of the literary heritage of the members of LWU; literary events: conferences, literary evenings, commemoration of anniversaries, literary competitions, etc.; activities of the subdivisions of LWU, such as periodicals, publishing and bookshops; care of the memorials of the writers, other remembrance programmes; social and cultural programmes announced by Government.

The organisations of collective administration of copyright and related rights make payments for their members. National and international copyright is collectively administered by the Association LATGA established in 1991. The collective administration of the performers’ and phonogram producers’ rights is performed by the Lithuanian Related Rights Association AGATA, which was established in 1999. At the initiative of the performers and phonogram producers, the related rights association GRETA was established in 2013. The Association of Audiovisual Works Copyright AVAKA, established in 2008, administers the rights of the owners of audiovisual works. These organisations distribute royalties and make payments to represented right holders.

AVAKA has a Sociocultural Fund that is used to strengthen the audiovisual sector and encourage creativity through support of events, competitions, festivals, workshops, conferences and other activities, which enhance the professional competencies of TV and film producers. The fund can also be used for special payments to AVAKA members in case of accidents, illness or death.

Last update: October, 2025

The main institution allocating grants for Lithuanian artists is the Lithuanian Council for Culture. It awards three types of grants for individual artists. The Individual Grant is awarded to encourage the creative expression of an individual artist or cultural creator and amounts to EUR 800 per month. The Mobility Grant is awarded for carrying out an artist’s or cultural creator’s activities abroad—promoting international cooperation, improving mastery, and participating in residencies, traineeships, competitions, symposia, creative camps, conferences, or other similar events. The Mobility Grant is a one-off payment, disbursed upon signing an agreement with the grantee, and is up to EUR 4 000. The Young Artist Grant is awarded to foster the creative activities of artists and cultural creators at the start of their careers. It amounts to EUR 800 per month. The Individual and Young Artist grants are awarded for a period of no longer than one year.

Table 42: Individual grants for artists by field of arts, distributed by the Lithuanian Council of Culture in 2014–2024

Source: Lithuanian Council for Culture

The Ministry of Culture of the Republic of Lithuania gives annual awards and prizes for outstanding achievements in arts and culture. The most important award is the Lithuanian National Award for Culture and Arts. The award was established in 1989. It is granted for outstanding achievements in culture and arts and has been awarded annually in six categories since 2006 (between 1989 and 2006, there were nine categories). The prize is formally bestowed on February 16, when the decorations and diplomas are presented to the laureates at the Presidential Palace, commemorating the anniversary of the 1918 Act of Independence of Lithuania.

The Lithuanian Government’s Awards for Culture and Arts were established in 2006 and aim to promote art creators, performers, musicians, film makers etc. for their merits to Lithuanian art. Up to 12 awards are granted by the Lithuanian Government annually to Lithuanian cultural and artistic creators and actors.

The most significant works of professional theatre creators and outstanding professional achievements in the fields of drama, opera, operetta and musical, ballet, dance, puppet and object theatre, as well as children’s and youth theatre, are awarded with prizes conferred by the Ministry of Culture – the Golden Stage Cross and the Borisas Dauguvietis Earring. The award ceremony is held on World Theatre Day – 27 March.

In order to encourage and appreciate the creators, translators and critics of literature, the Ministry of Culture has been annually awarding premiums for the best works: the Armchair of the Translator of the Year (in cooperation with the Lithuanian PEN Centre), St. Jerome’s Prize (in cooperation with the Lithuanian Association of Literary Translators), as well as the Yotvingian Prize and the Young Yotvingian Prize (in cooperation with the Association “Druskininkai Poetic Fall”).

The Ministry of Culture organises the Dalia Tamulevičiūtė Competition for Lithuanian Authors of Performing Works of Art – a winner is selected from the sketches/extracts of performing works of art submitted to the Ministry of Culture from professional performing arts theatres according to the established procedure, to whom funding is allocated for the production of a play or one-person play.

Balys Buračas photography award is annually granted to Lithuanian photographers for the most significant work or series of works that analyse, document or interpret Lithuanian culture.

Bronius Savukynas award was established in 2010 by the Ministry of Culture. The award is granted annually to authors of publications and chief editors of cultural publications for the purity and correctness of the Lithuanian language, and the dissemination of humanistic values, analytical thought, and intellectual culture in periodical cultural publications.

Young Artist Prize is awarded annually by the Ministry of Culture. Nominees for the prize may be either young artists (14 to 35 years old) or teams of young artists.

Martynas Mažvydas Premium for merits to the Lithuanian language, history of writing and book art is awarded for the best research achievements in Lithuanian literature, language history, culture, and book science.

Last update: October, 2025

There are in Lithuania 19 artists’ associations that have a special status of “artists’ organisation” granted them according to the Law on the Status of Artists and Artists Organisations (1996): Architects’ Association of Lithuania, Lithuanian Union of Journalists, Lithuanian Theatre Union, Professional Folk Artists’ Association, Lithuanian Writers’ Union, Lithuanian Musicians’ Union, The Lithuanian Association of Literary Translators, Lithuanian Composers’ Union, Lithuanian Filmmakers’ Union, Union of Lithuanian Art Photographers, Lithuanian Designers’ Society, Lithuanian Artists’ Association, Lithuanian Association of Landscape Architects, Contemporary Dance Association, Lithuanian Interdisciplinary Artists’ Association, Association of Performing Arts Critics, Lithuanian Association of Chores, Association of Vilnius Region Folk Artists, Lithuanian Association of Art Creators. The latter organisation is an umbrella association of twelve artists’ unions.

Artists’ unions and associations that have the status of “artists’ organisations” can apply for funding to the special programme “Strategic Programmes of Artists Organisations”, created by the Lithuanian Council for Culture to support these kinds of organisations. In 2020-2024, the programme funded 18 projects of these organisations by 1 291 400 EUR.