Central Asians More Numerous, Younger and Living Longer than in 1991, New Moscow Study Finds

Paul Goble
    Staunton, Dec. 19 – Since becoming independent in 1991, the five Central Asian countries have seen their combined population grow from just over 50 million to more than 80 million, a development that means the region as a whole is as large as either Iran or Turkey, Moscow’ ACRA credit rating agency says.
    But the growth in numbers is not the only positive demographic development in the region, it continues. The population is now younger and living longer than was the case 35 years ago, a remarkable achievement given all the problems the region has experienced (acra-ratings.ru/research/2800/ and asiaplustj.info/ru/news/centralasia/20241219/demograficheskii-bum-tsentralnoi-azii-pomog-ekonomike).
    What this combination means, the Russian rating agency says, is that Central Asia is on the cusp of becoming am ever more important market for other countries and eventually an ever more important producer of goods and at least for the next few decades source of migrants as well.