Experts See No Exodus Of Discontented Liberals From Russia

(RIA Novosti – Moscow, 16 January) On the basis of official statistics, researchers from the Centre of Political Information have made a conclusion that the “liberal panic” in Russia has not led to a mass outflow of “the discontented” from the country. In addition, having analysed the dynamics of migration from Russia to countries other than former Soviet republics, experts have noticed that migration is falling.

No panic

“As you know, Vladimir Putin’s return to the post of Russian president has been negatively perceived by some liberal-minded groups and started them thinking about emigration. An analysis of official statistics, however, shows that these sentiments have not been acted upon,” it says in the report “Perception of Russia in the modern world”.

Referring to official statistics, the researchers note that a vast majority of an increased number of emigrants have left for CIS countries, which is party due to Rosstat’s (Federal State Statistics Service) new calculation methods, as well as changes in the national migration policies.

The number of those who left for non-CIS countries is quite small, compared with the first figure. (passage omitted)

In addition, the report highlights the fact that only a few dozen people left for countries that have traditionally been considered to be the most popular among the Russian intelligentsia – Israel, the USA, Germany and Canada. According to the researches, this shows that there has been no exodus of “the discontented” from Russia, despite the “liberal panic”.

Two trends

Experts who analysed international migration in and out of Russia in 1997-2011 have noted a fall in the number of people leaving the Russian Federation. Their findings are based on data published by the Federal State Statistics Service.

“An analysis of the dynamics of international migration reveals several long-term trends – a clear and significant reduction in the number of people leaving Russia and a constantly growing number of people arriving in the country,” the report says. (passage omitted)

According to the Centre for Political Information, the largest net migration was recorded in 1997 and amounted to 364,664, and the lowest in 2003 (35,126). Total net migration in the years 1997-2011 exceeded 2.7m.

(passage omitted)