Migration impacts on labor force in Armenia
By Sabina Idayatova
The Armenian National Statistics Service reported about a massive decrease in labor resources and the number of economically active population in recent years.
Local media report that the number of labor force was at the level of 2, 286,000 people in 2011, the figure fell down to 2, 260, 000 a year later, while the number of the economically active population was 1,440,000 in 2011 and 1,418, 000 people in 2012.
Five percent or about 160,000 Armenian citizens left the country over the past three years.
According to the Armenian Migration Service, 2.053 million people left the country over 11 months of 2012, while 1.981 million returned in this period. Thus, the difference between those who left and came back made up about 72,000 people, Haykakan Zhamanak daily said.
In January-February 2013, the number of emigrants increased by 2,455 compared to the same period of 2012.
The exodus tendency emerged in 2008, and about 200,000 people have left the country since then in search of a new start in their lives.
Given Armenia's small population of slightly over 3 million, if the dangerous demographic situation in the South Caucasus republic persists, it may soon have almost no labor force left. Around two-thirds of the migrants have reportedly gone to Russia, while the rest have moved to the U.S. or Europe.
The most intensive migration has been reported to the central and southern regions of Russia, as well as to the other Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) countries. At least 40,000 people have left for the United States and other industrialized countries.
About 60 percent of the entire total of 8 million Armenians live outside Armenia in 60 countries, with one million in the U.S. and Russia each. There are also large Armenian communities in Georgia, France, Iran, Lebanon, Syria, Argentina, and Canada.
The Armenian government, however, appears to lack an intention to change the situation for the sake of its people by leaving the country sidelined from regional projects because of the invasion policy against Azerbaijan, occupying the country's Nagorno-Karabakh and seven other regions, and fueling tension with neighbouring countries.