Migration turning point in Armenia: what changed in 2025?
In 2025, the migration balance in the Republic of Armenia became positive for the first time; during the year, 8,660 more citizens entered the country than left Armenia. This was stated by RA Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan, referring to the results of the discussion on the annual report of the MIA.
According to Pashinyan, statistics on the entry and exit of citizens in Armenia have been maintained since 2010, and this is the first case where the number of entries exceeds exits. He noted that such an indicator had not been recorded previously and considered it an important turning point.
The Prime Minister sees two main reasons for this change: peace and economic development under peaceful conditions. According to him, 2025 was the first year of peace, and it is expected that such positive statistics will be continuous in the coming years.
This migration indicator stands out particularly in the context of previous years. According to Amnews data, in 2014-2018, the migration balance in the Republic of Armenia was consistently negative; in 2014, it was around -21.8 thousand, in 2016, -24.8 thousand, and in 2018, approximately -18.3 thousand people.
Starting from 2020, the migration picture began to change gradually. That year, a positive migration growth of about 3.4 thousand was recorded, in 2022, about 6.1 thousand, and in 2023, net migration rose sharply, amounting to around 41.4 thousand people.
The highest positive indicator was recorded in 2024; net migration amounted to about 76.9 thousand people. That year, around 119.5 thousand people arrived in Armenia, while about 42.6 thousand left the country.
In other words, since 2022, migration has shown positive trends. However, referring to these figures, it should also be noted that the Russian-Ukrainian war began in 2022 and continues to this day. The reason for such positive indicators in Armenia may also be attributed to that war.