YEREVAN. – Zhoghovurd newspaper of the Republic of Armenia (RA) writes: The permanent population of Armenia has increased.

Zhoghovurd daily learned that as of January 1 of this year, the permanent population of our republic was 2 million 964 thousand 100, whereas as of January 1 of the previous year, the permanent population was 2 million 959 thousand 700.

It turns out that the population has increased by 4,400 in one year. But experts have their own explanation for this. The thing is that our citizens who went abroad for work and returned to RA in 2019 could not leave the country in 2020 due to the coronavirus, and this is why the [country’s] population, according to official data, has increased.

But despite this, compared to January 1, 2019, the population [of Armenia], on the contrary, decreased by 1,200 in the same period this year. Moreover, as of January 1 of this year in Armenia, women outnumbered men; out of 2 million 964 thousand 100, 1 million 565 thousand 600 are women, whereas 1 million 398 thousand 500 are men.

In addition to the increase in the permanent population, the number of births has also increased [in Armenia]. In the case when the number of births in 2018 was 36,574, then in 2019—36,041, in 2020—36,448; that is, the number of births increased by 407.

Another important indicator is that the number of deaths has increased by 9,185 in one year [in Armenia].