MOSCOW, August 15. /TASS/. A recent poll shows that the share of Russians who do not want to leave the country to take up permanent residence abroad has jumped over 30 years to 90%, from 72% in 1993, Daniil Yermolaev, development director at VCIOM-Consulting, a unit of leading polling firm Russian Public Opinion Research Center (VCIOM), said at a press conference.

"In terms of moving abroad, we see that over 30 years we have experienced some shift. If in 1993 72% would not want to move to another country, then in 2023 already 90% do not want to move [abroad]," Yermolaev said.

According to him, 8% of Russian citizens would like to leave the country immediately, whereas in 1993 the percentage expressing that view was 15%. As the expert noted, Russians have begun to feel that Western destinations are now closed due to logistics difficulties, while they look upon Eastern destinations as still developing.

"For Russians who live in the Far East, it [the Eastern direction] is already perceived as the primary one, although for all others it is still seen as just one among several options," he noted.

The poll shows that the share of citizens who wish to emigrate from Russia is greater among younger respondents than among older cohorts. However, 83% of respondents say they would not want their children or grandchildren to go abroad. In 1993, the share expressing this view was 67%.

Yermolaev noted that the poll results give rise to the question: Why leave?

"In fact, over the past 13 years, life has indeed become more convenient in Russia, both in terms of education and in terms of the possibilities for internal migration to [major Russian] cities with one million-plus inhabitants, and from the point of view of relocating to the [Greater Moscow] region as well as the [federal] programs that exist [to encourage internal migration to] the Far East," the pollster elaborated.

According to the survey, in 1993 20% of respondents would not want their children or grandchildren to go abroad to study, while 53% would. Now 71% do not want their children or grandchildren to study abroad, while 20% express such a desire.

The older the respondents, the less they permit their children or grandchildren to migrate abroad for employment reasons. In 1993, 35% did not want their children or grandchildren to leave Russia for work in another country, whereas today 70% do not want this. Only 20% of those surveyed in 2023 answered "yes" to this question.

The nationwide VCIOM-Sputnik telephone survey was conducted on August 5, 2023, among 1,600 citizens aged 18 years and older. The margin of sampling error with a probability of 95% does not exceed 2.5%.