While not all of these Russians will move, the higher desire in recent years should concern Moscow. Larger potential migration numbers could accelerate the population decline, and losses could potentially exceed the 8% of the population that the United Nations currently projects Russia to lose by 2050.
But the “who” may be just as concerning for the country’s future economic position and political influence as the “how many.” Since 2014, the percentage of working-age Russians who say they would like to move has at least tripled, jumping from 14% to 44% among 15- to 29-year-olds, from 7% to 22% among those between the ages of 30 and 45 and from 3% to 9% among those aged 46 to 60.
Although young people typically are more likely to want to migrate — as they are the most mobile within a population — the 44% of the youngest Russians who want to move is unprecedented in Russia within the past decade.
