Judicial officers recovered EUR 326.6 million in debts for creditors in 2025

More than 26,000 creditors recovered their debts

With the assistance of judicial officers, 26.2 thousand creditors recovered at least part of the debts owed to them in 2025. Among them were 20.9 thousand private individuals, nearly 5 thousand legal entities, and 306 budgetary institutions.

According to data from the Judicial Officers’ Information System, the total amount of debts recovered for creditors last year reached EUR 326.6 million. This is 2% (EUR 6.2 million) more than in 2024.

In 2025, EUR 64.6 million in overdue debts was recovered for private individuals. These included wages recovered at employees’ request, child maintenance payments (so-called alimony), promissory note loans, and other monetary debts.

Private legal entities recovered EUR 202.5 million in debts, including overdue payments for telecommunications and utility services, consumer credits, loans, and other unfulfilled financial obligations. The largest single debt recovered in 2025 amounted to EUR 2.73 million and was paid to a construction company.

The state budget was supplemented by EUR 56.9 million in recovered debts last year. Most debts returned to the state consisted of unpaid taxes and fines.

Slowing processes and a growing debt burden

Nevertheless, debt recovery statistics reveal concerning signals: processes are slowing down, the burden of unrecovered debts is increasing, and creditors’ losses are growing. Compared to 2024, the number of recovered debts decreased by 8% last year (from 142.1 thousand to 130.4 thousand).

Debt recovery efficiency has been reduced by statutory relief measures for debtors introduced in 2024: lower amounts subject to income deductions, the introduction of so-called “debt holidays”, and additional restrictions on recovery from debtors’ assets. Previously, recovery of a EUR 1,000 debt from a person earning the minimum monthly wage took about six months; now the process lasts more than a year. As recovery processes slow down, the total amount of overdue debt is growing much faster. It exceeded EUR 5 billion for the first time, reaching EUR 5.3 billion at the end of 2025, which is nearly 6% more than at the end of 2024.

Debts up to EUR 300 dominate. Unpaid administrative fines are increasing

The growth of the total amount claimed by creditors was not halted even though the volume of new claims submitted in 2025 declined. Last year, judicial officers initiated 248.5 thousand new enforcement proceedings at creditors’ request (8% fewer than in 2024) for the recovery of EUR 721.7 million in debts (14% less).

More than half (54%) of the claims submitted to judicial officers concerned debts of up to EUR 300. In the view of judicial officers, this statistic reflects a careless attitude of some debtors toward their financial obligations. By cooperating with creditors and agreeing on installment payments, debts of this size can often be repaid without the involvement of judicial officers, even by persons earning minimum income.

As in previous years, claims submitted by state institutions to recover administrative fines made up the largest share of claims handled by judicial officers in 2025. Unlike other types of claims, the number of these increased: in 2025, judicial officers received almost 4% more such claims than in 2024, totaling 115 thousand.

Meanwhile, the number of new claims for the recovery of child maintenance payments (so-called alimony) continued to decline last year. In 2025, 3.2 thousand such claims were submitted, 5% fewer than in 2024. However, due to slower recovery processes, the total amount of overdue alimony debt increased by about 15% over the year, reaching EUR 213.1 million at the beginning of this year. At the beginning of 2025, a total of 45.6 thousand alimony recovery proceedings initiated in different periods were ongoing.

Last year, creditors turned to judicial officers regarding obligations that had not been fulfilled on time by 111.8 thousand debtors: 104.5 thousand private individuals, nearly 7 thousand private legal entities, and almost 300 budgetary institutions and organizations.

Currently, 105 judicial officers and approximately 500 hired employees work in Lithuania’s system of compulsory enforcement of decisions. There are 92 judicial officers’ offices and 6 branches of judicial officers’ offices in operation. Each year, judicial officers pay approximately EUR 15 million in taxes (personal income tax, value-added tax, and social insurance contributions) into the state budget.

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