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Why did the populations of Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania decline after independence?

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Map of the Baltic States-Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania-showing country borders, major uplands and plains, highest points, and the capitals Tallinn, Riga, and Vilnius. Surrounding countries and bodies of water, including Russia, Belarus, Poland, Finland, Sweden, the Baltic Sea, and the Gulf of Finland, are also labeled. — Baltic states The Baltic states: Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania.

Following their independence from the Soviet Union in 1991, the populations of Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania experienced a decline due to several interconnected factors.1

The primary driver of this population decrease was the return emigration of ethnic Russians to Russia, as well as broader out-migration to western Europe and North America. Additionally, the region faced significant demographic challenges, including aging populations and low rates of natural increase.1

In the early post-Soviet period, economic and political instability led many families to postpone having children, further suppressing birth rates that were already insufficient to ensure population replacement. While Estonia and Latvia struggled significantly with these aging trends, Lithuania maintained a comparatively higher birth rate, though the region as a whole saw its total population fall in the years following independence.123