Armenian population “vanishing”
By Laman Sadigova
For the first time in nearly 40 years, the population of Armenia fell below the level of 3 million.
In 2015, the country’s population decreased by 12,000 people, while during the last five years it decreased by 35,000 people, and since gaining independence in 1991 - by 634,700 people. Thus, based on the 2011 census, 2,998,600 people live in the country as of January 1st 2016.
But the situation is even worse than those figures suggest, as one can only guess the real numbers.
More and more Armenians are leaving the country, and the ones staying on are more eager to escape than ever before if such chance emerges. The problem of migration is like a ghost for the Armenian society – everybody knows about the growing trends, people feel the impact, but nobody knows real numbers.
Yerevan cannot hope to stop outmigration, as Armenians increasingly feel that they have no future in a country that is in economic blockade and whose government has done little to fight domestic corruption or crime.
The landlocked country has faced economic isolation since the closure of its borders with Turkey and Azerbaijan, due to the occupation of Azerbaijan’s Nagorno-Karabakh and seven adjacent regions.
The fact that the country is in military conflict with its neighbor increasingly affects the migration rate as nobody wants to die, defending the occupied territories. Moreover, the state of the Armenian Armed forces is very poor and soldiers die even in non-combat conditions here.
Furthermore, Armenia lacks any opportunities to open new jobs for young people, who prefer to leave the country for better life abroad. Some of them want to study, work, or to live there and marry, and in most cases, they do not go back to their motherland.
One-third of the Armenian population lives below the poverty line. Unemployment, monopoly, corruption, and migration are joined by problems such as the increasing prices of basic utilities from year to year, in particular, gas and electricity prices, which makes the already difficult situation hopeless.
Lame economy in Armenia has also shackled many financial and industrial fields, including banking, mining, wine production etc. This turmoil ended in closure of numerous workplaces in the country, pushing citizens to seek jobs abroad.
The recent poll in Armenia revealed that 39 percent of the respondents are willing to leave Armenia for permanent residence in another country. Considering the current situation with migration in the country, those numbers inspire fears for the country’s future.
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