POPULATION OUTFLOW INCREASES IN ARMENIA

Today’s Zaman
Aug 18, 2011
Turkey

Data from official Armenian sources have pointed toward an increase in
the country’s population outflow numbers for the first half of 2011,
as the general population has decreased by 8.7 percent over the last
20 years, the Armenian ARKA news agency reported.

Citing data from Armenia’s National Statistical Service, ARKA reported
that the Armenian population reached an estimated 3.57 million in 1991,
whereas the current figures reveal a sharp decrease in population,
currently pointing to 3.26 million.

The same report noted that the outflow of population superseded the
incoming in the first half of 2011, with 458,000 people leaving the
country and 368,000 entering in the first six months of the year.

According to the report, this rising trend is the biggest
socio-economic issue challenging Armenia at the moment, a point
previously stressed by Armenian President Serzh Sarksyan.

The report also indicated that the outflow was draining the workforce,
with more than 250,000 people leaving the country since 2000, reducing
the working population to 1,186,000 people.

According to a 2010 yearbook published on the National Statistical
Service website, population figures peaked at the beginning of the
1990s with around 3.5 million people, but have gradually declined in
the following years.