In 2024, 28.4 thousand people moved to Russia under the program for the return of compatriots. This is the minimum for the last four years

The number of people wishing to live in the Russian Federation is falling, despite the simplification of conditions for repatriates

Last year, 28,374 people moved to Russia under the program of voluntary resettlement of compatriots living abroad, as follows from data from the Ministry of Internal Affairs, Vorstka noted .

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This is the minimum figure for the last four years, and since 2017, from which statistics are available on the Rosstat website, fewer people moved under this program only in 2020 - during the Covid outbreak.

The number of repatriates has been falling since 2021

The number of people moving to Russia under the compatriot return program has been falling since 2021. At that time, 49,193 people took advantage of the opportunity to repatriate, and since then their number has decreased by an average of 6,940 every year.

The most noticeable drop was in the number of repatriates from Tajikistan. If in 2021–2023 it remained at more than 10 thousand, then in 2024 it decreased to 5,244.

The number of repatriates from Armenia fell from 5,866 in 2023 to 2,129. Also, the number of repatriates from Moldova fell almost twice compared to last year - from 1,105 to 567.

52 people moved from Ukraine to Russia in 2024. This is 13 more than in 2023 (39), but 369 less than in 2022 (421). In 2021, the last year before the start of a full-scale invasion, 1,270 Ukrainians moved to Russia.

In 2024, conditions for repatriates were simplified - they will not have to confirm their knowledge of the Russian language

In 2024, the number of resettlers continued to decrease despite the fact that from January 1, 2024, according to the decree of Vladimir Putin, the institution of repatriation officially appeared in Russia. Compatriots permanently living abroad as of February 24, 2022 can count on it.

Soon after this, the Russian government simplified the conditions for repatriates - they will not have to prove their knowledge of the Russian language. And in August 2024, Putin also signed a law according to which those wishing to return to Russia will be able to obtain a residence permit in a simplified manner, bypassing obtaining a temporary residence permit.

“Verstka” previously told how in 2022 the Kremlin discussed ways to return to the country hundreds of thousands of highly qualified specialists and entrepreneurs who left the country after a full-scale invasion of Ukraine. First of all, the authorities are interested in the opportunity to return representatives of IT professions to the country. The authorities are also concerned about the shortage of teachers, scientists, lawyers and people of creative professions.

We also wrote about how the labor market has changed amid the war . The war with Ukraine has led to a shortage of personnel in the Russian market. The state is trying to solve this problem, including by involving people with disabilities in work.

Photo: Sunset on Red Square in Moscow. Lorenzo Di Cola/NurPhoto via Reuters
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