High migration ratio may leave Armenia without labor force
By Sabina Idayatova
The Armenian population reduced by 10,000 people for October 1, 2013 compared with the beginning of the year, ARKA quoted the Armenian National Statistical Service as saying.
The number of permanent Armenian population made up 3,017 million, some 1,913 million people of which live in the cities and 1,103 million people in rural areas.
According to the National Statistical Service, migration balance
in red exceeds the natural growth ratio of the population.
According to the Armenian electronic border management, the gross
external passenger traffic through the country's checkpoints
amounted to 3,668 milliontrips in January to September, 2014.
Furthermore, the number of arrivals amounted to 1,780,206, which shows an 11.6 percent increase compared to January to September of the last year, and the number of departures made up 1,888,183, or up by 11.5 percent. The balance of passenger traffic was 122,200 trips.
The number of children born in the country during the last months of the year reduced by 1.9 percent compared to the same period in 2012 to 30,477 people. The number of deaths also fell by 3 percent to 20,268 people in this period.
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 people, such a dangerous demographic situation may leave the South Caucasus republic almost without labor force soon. Around two-thirds of the migrants have reportedly gone to Russia, while the rest have moved to the U.S. or European countries.
About 60 percent of the overall 8 million Armenians live outside Armenia. They reside in 60 countries, with one million in the U.S. and Russia each. Large Armenian communities also exist 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.