of citizenship was used to dismiss a large number of Polish civil servants as during the Interbellum period about 88,000 Poles migrated to Vilnius from as far as Małopolska), while around 150,000 Poles were repatriated from the Lithuanian SSR in 1945–1956. Almost the whole Jewish population was exterminated during the Holocaust in Lithuania. After World War II, the number of ethnic Lithuanians in the city started recovering (e.g. there already were 79,363 Lithuanians in 1959, who accounted for 33.6% of all residents in the city), however the Lithuanization ideas were mostly replaced with the Sovietization of the population after the rigged election to the People's Seimas in 1940. Following the restoration of independence in 1990, the ethnic Lithuanian population in the city continued to grow in 2011 to 63.2% (337,000 residents), and in 2021 to 67,44 % (373,513 inhabitants) according to the censuses. Economy Vilnius is the major economic centre of Lithuania. The GDP per capita (nominal) in Vilnius metropolitan area (Vilnius County) is almost €30,000, making it the wealthiest city in Lithuania and the second-wealthiest city in the Baltic states after Tallinn. The budget of Vilnius reached €1.0 billion in 2022. As of Q3 of 2022 the average monthly salary in Vilnius city municipality reached €2,051(gross) and €1,270(net). Since 2010, employment and unemployment indicators have continuously been improving in Lithuania. Employment reached a record high of 77.5% in the third quarter of 2018 while unemployment was 6.3% in the fourth quarter, a rate last observed in 2008. Nevertheless, this has to be seen in the context of a shrinking working age population. The activity rate reached 82% in 2017. Vilnius and Kaunas counties offer better labour market opportunities than other counties, and this drives the internal interregional migration. However, in other regions employment opportunities remain scarce. Unemployment rates remained persistently high in the least developed regions (14.9% in Utena County as compared to 4.8% in Vilnius County). Other key labour market indicators have improved, returning to pre-crisis levels. Long-term unemployment fell to 2.1% in the third quarter of 2018 (EU average: 2.9%). Youth unemployment (13.3%) and the rate of young people not in employment, education or training (NEET, at 9.1%) were below the EU average in 2017. Overall, the share of the population at risk of poverty or social exclusion (AROPE) has decreased since Lithuania joined the EU in 2004. However, it remains among the highest in the EU