Survey Results: One in Every Two Iranians Under 30 Wants to Emigrate

According to a survey conducted by an organization inside Iran, the results of which were released on Wednesday, December 15, the desire to emigrate in Iran is approximately twice the global average and slightly higher than the regional average.

The survey also states: “Approximately one out of every two young people under 30 years old wishes to emigrate.”

Based on this survey, conducted by an organization called “Q” inside Iran on a statistical sample of 1,300 people over 18 years old living in the country, one-third of respondents (33 percent) said they would be willing to emigrate if conditions permit.

This comes as, according to the organization, the desire to emigrate in Iran was below 30 percent in 2016, and international research shows that the global average desire to emigrate is 15 percent, West Asia 24 percent, and Southeast Asia only 7 percent.

Other findings of this survey show that the desire to emigrate among Tehran residents, provincial centers, people with university education, single individuals, and young people (18 to 30 years old) is significantly higher than the national average.

Economic factors were identified as the most important motivation for emigration, with 80 percent of respondents citing achieving better economic conditions or escaping a bad economic situation as their primary motivation for emigration.

Radio Farda is unable to independently verify this survey and its results, and other surveys may show these results to be higher or lower, but the “Iran Migration Yearbook 2021” published by Iran’s Migration Observatory under the supervision of the Policy Research Institute of Sharif University of Technology in the first week of August this year shows that the departure of students from the country has increased from 19,000 in 2003 to approximately three times that, reaching 56,000 people in 2018.

These statistics are announced at a time when in the past two to three years, due to economic, political, and social pressures, the inclination toward emigration among various segments of Iranian society has increased significantly, and accurate statistics on illegal migration are not available.

In the Iran Migration Yearbook report, it is stated that based on the number of Iranians in refugee status in 2020, Iran ranked 14th among 195 countries.

The report also states that in 2019, approximately 42,000 migrants with Iranian citizenship entered Turkey, while this number was around 15,500 in 2016.

Source: Radio Farda