(MENAFN- AzerNews) By Rashid Shirinov
The latest statistical data published by the National Statistical Service of Armenia (NSS) have once again showed the severity of the demographic crisis in the poor South Caucasus country.
Summing up the results of 2017, the NSS reported that the number of Armenia's permanent residents is 2,972,900, which is down by 13,200 as compared to 2016.
'If this continues, we will gradually come to the indices that were in the 1990s, Armenian demographer Artak Markosyan told 1in.am when commenting on the current demography statistics of the country.
The NSS also upset Armenians with the data on the natural population growth, which has also decreased. The figure was 13,885 in 2015, 12,366 in 2016, and only 10,332 people last year.
'The generation of the 1990s is already at the age of marriage, and it is natural that the number of marriages will decline. Birth of the first child will also decrease, Markosyan noted.
He said that there was a sharp decline in the birth rate in the 1990s, mainly because of high emigration rates and socio-economic indicators, and this can be repeated in Armenia again.
'Now all this is added by a reduction in the number of marriages, and there are social and economic issues again, the expert said.
Markosyan added that the situation can be mitigated if Armenian families begin to have a third and fourth child, but there is not such a trend in the country so far.
'People do not want this because of the social and economic situation that can be called uncontrollable, the expert said.
The demographer noted that the natural population growth of Armenia in 2017 was the second worst indicator since 1991. The worst was fixed in 2001, when the figure was only around 8,000 people.
'We will have an increase in the number of deaths, a decrease in the birth rate, that will lead to negative natural growth, which is already catastrophic, Markosyan said.
In this context, Armenian President Serzh Sargsyan's absurd statement about reaching the population of 4 million people in Armenia by 2040 is noteworthy. Markosyan called it frivolous, since there is no progress in Armenia's domestic life, the government does not make any reforms that would force Armenians living abroad to return to their homeland.
Therefore, it is unclear how the Armenian government is going to increase the country's population by more than one million is such a short period. Every year, the number of Armenian citizens decreases by more than 10,000 people. Vast majority of them are the people who have lost their last hope of having a normal life in Armenia, and if the situation in the country does not change, this trend will continue indefinitely.
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