Officially Armenia’s permanent population as of January 1, 2016 was less than 3 million, for the first time since 1970s, standing at 2.998.6 million, according to the National Statistical Service (NSS). The year-on-year contraction was 12,000 people, it said.

In 1977 the Soviet Armenia had a population of 2.9 million. In 1978 it was already above 3 million, growing to 3.6 million in late 1992. According to the latest official numbers, over the last 5 years the population has reduced by 35,900 people and by 634,000 people when compared to 1991, when Armenia became independent from former Soviet Union.

The urban population in 2015 decreased by 5,500 people from the year before to 1.907.4 million. The largest out-emigration was from the capital Yerevan as well as from Lori and Shirak regions. In rural areas, the population decreased by 6,500 to 1.091.2 million people.

According to the National Statistical Service, 41,815 babies were born in 2015, a decrease of 2.8% from the previous year. The number of reported deaths increased by 0.4% to 27, 835. In 2015, the number of births exceeded 1.5 times the number of deaths, thus the natural growth of the population was 13,980 people, a decline of 8.7% from 2014.