One in Every Three Residents of Russian Far East Wants to Leave Regardless of Age

Paul Goble

            Staunton, Sept. 13 – Just how much of an uphill struggle Moscow has in boosting the population of the Russian Far East adjoining China is highlighted by a new poll that shows one in every three residents of that region wants to move to somewhere else and that there is no statistically significant difference among young people and pensioners.

            Typically, young people are more ready to leave and older ones less so, but according to a Platform poll, the difference between the two groups in that respect is only three percent, with 36 percent of those between 18 and 34 as compared to 39 percent of those over 55 saying they want to move elsewhere (prim.rbc.ru/prim/freenews/6500f20f9a79474a8cc5e5b5).

            Of those who say that they want to leave, roughly half say they are prepared to do so more or less immediately while a second half indicates that they would like to leave but not necessarily right now.  But leaving they are: 61,000 from Primorsky Kray in 2022 and 49,000 from Khabarovsk Kray. Even with subsidized immigration, both lost population.

            Officials are considering additional subsidies and benefits for those who agree to move to the region, but such flows appear likely to be overwhelmed by the outmigration of people already there, unless economic conditions in the Russian Far East change dramatically in the coming years.