Migration of Skilled Workers to Russia: Balance of Losses and Gains

Nikita Mkrtchyan – Leading Research fellow of the Demography, Migration and Research Laboratory, Institute of Social Analysis and Forecast, Russian Presidential Academy of National Economy and Public Administration, Candidate of Geographic Sciences. E-mail: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Yulia Florinskaya – Leading Research fellow of the Living Standard and Social Safety Net Research Laboratory, Institute of Social Analysis and Forecast, Russian Presidential Academy of National Economy and Public Administration, Candidate of Geographic Sciences. E-mail: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

The share of persons with higher education in immigration flows and the temporary migration to the Russian Federation is currently lower than that in the emigration flow from Russia. However, in quantitative terms the annual number of intellectual emigrants is small. Migration of persons with higher education inside Russia is mainly directed to metropolitan regions; Moscow and St. Petersburg do not prepare as many experts as they receive from other regions of Russia.  

Key words: migration, intellectual migration, migration of persons with higher education, domestic migration of persons with higher education.