Judicial officers recovered EUR 189.5 million in debt for creditors in the first half of the year

Judicial officers recovered EUR 189.5 million in debt for creditors during the first half of 2026. This represents an increase of EUR 40 million, or 27 per cent, compared with the same period last year. A total of 21,000 unique creditors recovered all or part of their outstanding claims during the first six months of the year.

Private creditors benefited the most

According to data from the Judicial Officers' Information System, judicial officers recovered nearly EUR 158 million for private individuals and legal entities during the first half of the year. This is EUR 37.8 million, or 31.5 per cent, more than during the corresponding period in 2025. A further EUR 31.5 million was recovered on behalf of the state, representing a 7 per cent increase compared with the first half of last year.

The creditors who recovered debts included approximately 17,000 private individuals, 3,800 private legal entities, and around 290 public sector institutions, including the State Tax Inspectorate, the State Social Insurance Fund Board (Sodra), the Customs Department and others.

More than 30,000 creditors benefited from the enforcement of periodic child maintenance payments (commonly referred to as maintenance payments).

Judicial auctions remain rare

The largest amount recovered – more than EUR 3 million in principal and interest – was paid to a private limited liability company after the mortgaged Stebuklai SPA complex in Nida was sold through a judicial auction. In another case, more than EUR 1.5 million was recovered for a credit union through the judicial auction of administrative premises on Šeimyniškių Street in Vilnius owned by an indebted company.

Despite these isolated high-value sales, the sale of debtors' assets through judicial auctions remains an exceptional debt recovery measure. Of the 79,700 successfully completed enforcement proceedings, only 0.5 per cent resulted in debts being recovered through the sale of debtors' assets at auction. The vast majority of debts were recovered from debtors' income and other available funds. During the first half of 2026, judicial officers conducted 400 judicial auctions.

Debt recovery performance also benefited from the decision of some debtors to withdraw funds accumulated in second-pillar pension funds. This increased the number of cases in which debts could be recovered from funds held in bank accounts and also raised the amounts actually recovered. During the first half of this year, 69 per cent of successfully completed enforcement proceedings resulted in creditors' claims being satisfied in full – 14 percentage points more than during the same period last year.

However, this improvement may prove temporary, as nearly all legal measures that slow down debt recovery remain in force. These include reduced deduction rates from debtors' income and so-called "debt holidays", with the exception of debt holidays in child maintenance enforcement cases, which have been declared unconstitutional.

New debt amounts increase as more claims are filed by European creditors

During the first half of this year, judicial officers received 117,100 new enforcement requests to recover debts and enforce other decisions. This represents a 2.5 per cent decrease compared with the first half of 2025.

Nevertheless, the total value of new claims increased by 3.2 per cent to EUR 348.1 million. The average debt submitted for enforcement during the first half of 2026 amounted to EUR 2,947, an increase of 6 per cent compared with the previous year.

The number of debt recovery requests submitted by creditors from other European countries increased particularly significantly. During the first six months of the year, judicial officers received 944 European enforcement orders, representing a 43 per cent increase compared with the same period last year. The total value of new claims submitted by European creditors rose by 24 per cent to EUR 112.3 million.

The combination of increasing claim values and a declining number of new cases indicates that creditors are increasingly turning to judicial officers to recover larger debts, while compulsory enforcement proceedings are initiated less frequently for relatively small amounts. For example, during the first half of this year, judicial officers received 12 per cent fewer claims for debts of up to EUR 100 (a total of 32,400 cases) than during the corresponding period last year.

The total value of all claims under enforcement, including those initiated in previous years, also continued to grow. As of 30 June 2026, it reached EUR 5.34 billion, representing a 5 per cent increase compared with one year earlier.

Slight decline in the number of new debtors

A total of 68,300 persons became subject to enforcement proceedings during the first half of 2026 after creditors sought recovery of unpaid debts through judicial officers. This is 1.5 per cent fewer than during the corresponding period in 2025. The new debtors included 64,000 private individuals and 4,300 legal entities, including public institutions and organisations.

The total number of persons with debts under enforcement by judicial officers also declined by almost 2 per cent. At the end of June this year, 236,100 persons had outstanding debts under enforcement, compared with 240,300 a year earlier. This indicates a positive trend, with an increasing number of debtors managing to settle their obligations directly with creditors.

Overall, during the first half of 2026, Lithuanian judicial officers handled 1.58 million enforcement proceedings relating to debt recovery and the enforcement of other decisions initiated over various periods. Of these, 779,900 proceedings were initiated at the request of public authorities, while 803,900 proceedings were initiated by private individuals and legal entities.

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