Azerbaijani military expert Adalat Verdiyev reported that young and middle-aged Armenians left the country and turned to Russia where they received Russian citizenship. According to the expert, who shared this information on his Facebook page, in January-June 2021 alone, 21,900 Armenians received Russian citizenship. He noted that when dividing this figure by a day, it means a full set of at least one motorized infantry battalion daily. He added that the number of Armenians leaving Armenia, but without Russian citizenship, is several times higher.
Armenian sources report that thousands of citizens who have left the country have acquired or are trying to acquire Russian citizenship. A few years ago, it was reported that 10% of the Armenian population had Russian citizenship. The head of the State Migration Service of Armenia, Gagik Yeganyan, told RFE/RL's Armenian Service that the number of Armenians with Russian passports in the country has reached 200,000-300,000. Some of them are Armenians with dual citizenship.
As for the statistics for 2021, a number of websites confirm the information that in the first half of 2021, 21,900 Armenians actually received Russian citizenship.
The tendency of Armenians to get Russian citizenship is primarily explained by the social situation. The point is that in the rating of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) on purchasing power parity, Russia ranks 48th and Armenia 88th. In addition, in January-April 2021, real wages in Russia increased by 2.9% per year, while in Armenia they decreased by 1%. At present, the average pension in Russia is about $200, while in Armenia it is less than $90. Most likely, Armenians are trying to obtain Russian citizenship in order to take advantage of these and other opportunities.
In general, over the past three years, in 2018-2020, more than 80,000 Armenians received Russian citizenship. According to the migration statistics of the Russian Interior Ministry, 27,134 Armenians were granted Russian citizenship in 2018, 24,000 in 2019 and 30,500 in 2020. According to migration statistics in 2020, Armenians rank 4th among migrants with Russian citizenship after Ukraine (409,500), Tajikistan (63,400) and Kazakhstan (43,400). In 2016-2020, the total number of Armenians who received Russian citizenship was 104,000, and during these years, Armenians have always ranked fourth among migrants who received Russian citizenship.
Meanwhile, unlike previous years, it is possible to predict that this year the number of Armenians receiving Russian citizenship will be higher. Thus, in previous years, the annual figure was about 24,000-27,000 people, but in just six months of this year, 21,900 Armenians received Russian citizenship. So, the number of Armenians who received Russian citizenship this year may be higher.
However, these figures don’t reflect the main picture of migration from Armenia. The point is that the political, economic and social tensions that arose in Armenia after the Second Karabakh War increased migration from this country. Immediately after the lifting of restrictions on the coronavirus pandemic, a mass influx from Armenia to Russia began. In January-March this year, the number of cases of migration registration of Armenian citizens in Russia reached 289,900. This is 90,900 more than in the same period last year. Of the total number of registered cases, 202,300 were referred to as "work purposes". This is 4 times more than in January-June last year.
Expert: 138,000 people left Armenia in last 6 months
In general, in about five months of 2021, more than 80,000 Armenians left Armenia forever. According to official data, in the first four months of 2021, 240,891 people left Armenia by air alone. The number of those who returned was 164,214. Thus, more than 88,000 Armenian citizens didn’t return to the country. Armenians themselves predict that more than 200,000 people will leave Armenia this year.
By the way, the demographic crisis is one of the main threats to Armenia. According to the World Bank, depopulation has been taking place in Armenia since 1990. Thus, the population of Armenia reached 3.63 million in 1992. The largest population decline in the country occurred in 1993-1995. As of 2020, the population of Armenia is about 2.957 million. It is estimated that 1,120,000 people left Armenia in 1991-2019. The number of residents officially registered in Armenia includes those living abroad. One of the factors leading to the demographic crisis in Armenia is the fact that more than 25 percent of people born in the 1990s left Armenia.
