Reversing the Depopulation of Armenia: People Need Reasons to Stay

11:28, November 27, 2012

By Gabriel Armas-Cardona

Armenia has a people problem. While many Hayastancis may be proud of their country, they're leaving in droves, having less children, and aren't hopeful about their futures.

Emigration and a low birthright are existential challenges for Armenia that its leaders are not able to face. Instead of promoting bad policies like paying for families to have children, we could use those resources to make Armenia a country people want to live in.

Since the fall of the Soviet Union, Armenia has had an emigration problem. The World Bank estimates the peak of Armenia's population at 3.54 million in 1990. Now there are 3.1 million. During the Soviet Union, Armenia had a growth rate of 1.5%. If Armenia had the same growth rate since 2003, when the population started to increase again, Armenia would have 3.5 million people. We're missing 400,000 people. Where are those people?  Read more... (1017 words)

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