Nearly a Quarter Fewer Immigrant Workers Arrived in Russia in 2023 than in 2022, Rosstat Says

Paul Goble

            Staunton, July 22 – In 2023, Rosstat, the Russian government’s statistical agency, says, 560,400 migrant workers arrived in Russia, 23 percent fewer than in 2022. It is likely that the number arriving in 2024 will be even smaller given the increasing hostility of Russians to migrants and the declining number of businesses that feel compelled to defend them.

            The Rosstat figures are available at rosstat.gov.ru/compendium/document/13283. They are discussed in most detail at rbc.ru/economics/22/07/2024/669a2afd9a7947271d418486. And because the debate about what Russia should do about immigration, they are certain to inform and even enflame discussions in the days ahead.

            Among Rosstat’s key findings are the following:

·       Nearly a third of all immigrants came from Tajikistan (31 percent), with ten percent from Kygyzstan, and nine percent each from Ukraine, Armenia, and Kazakhstan. Uzbekistan was the country of origin for four percent, and the other Central Asian country, Turkmenistan, accounted for half of that.

·       More than half (55 percent) were men; and 76 percent were of working age, with the largest age cohort between 20 and 24.

·       Most have middle education; few have higher educations and even fewer have no education at all.

·       80 percent of migrant workers want to live in cities rather than rural areas. The top three regions are Moscow Oblast, Tyumen Oblast and the Kanty-Mansiisk AD. They account for 57 percent of all migrants who arrived in 2023.