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35,000 people left Armenia and did not return in 2012-2015, demographer Ruben Yeganyan told Panorama.am when speaking about the results of a study conducted in 2012-2015.

“Emigration rates are gradually growing, and the alarming rates of this phenomenon began a long time ago,” Yeganyan said.

About half of those who left Armenia and did not return are long-term migrant workers who leave the country for an indefinite period of time and settle abroad. The other half are permanent migrants who leave with no intention of returning. As regards the age composition of emigrants, they are mostly people of working age, and men make up 85% and women – 15% of the migrants, the demographer said.

“Alarming rates of emigration began long ago. There has been emigration from Armenia since 1990s and data shows that in recent years emigration rates have a tendency to grow,” he said.

“Moral and psychological factors are important here, people do not link their future to the country, there is an atmosphere of disappointment. People see no positive tendency and choose to leave and seek their fortune elsewhere,” he added.

The study on the rates of emigration from Armenia was done at the state’s request, with state budget funds, and aims to develop a state policy. The research authors submitted their proposals to the government that will work out a state program, Yeganyan said.

“The proposals are the same: the creation of extra jobs, development of the economy, in particular the industry, improving the situation in general because migration is a systemic phenomenon conditioned by the social, moral and political realities in the country. We need to deal with the causes of emigration. The purpose is to regulate emigration to a more or less acceptable level, make qualitative assessments, and then we should try to improve our whole system. No changes in the moral and psychological situation are possible without changing the economic situation, and it is impossible to normalize the economic situation and make the moral and psychological atmosphere healthier without improving the political situation,” he noted.

When asked if he sees a will to make positive changes, any efforts made for that purpose, Yeganyan replied that he has not seen that so far.