Russia reports 10% drop in number of migrants

The number of foreign nationals living in Russia has fallen by 10% to 5.7 million, Alexander Perezhogin, head of the Russian Interior Ministry’s analytical department on migration issues, said at a conference on Russia’s new migration policy.

For comparison, around 6.3 million foreigners were living in Russia in January last year. Official results for 2025 are expected to be released in February.

Perezhogin said the main reason for the decline was a nearly 25% reduction in the number of underage foreign nationals.

Stricter migration legislation also played a role, said Anna Minushkina, head of the Moscow-based law firm Minushkina & Partners. Previously, foreigners who violated migration rules could remain in the country until police checks were completed, but are now immediately added to a registry of controlled persons.

She said that before the new rules came into force, migrants retained access to bank accounts and could, among other things, marry, often allowing them to legalise their stay and challenge Interior Ministry decisions. Under the new deportation law, foreigners lose the right to manage their financial assets, forcing many to leave the country and, in some cases, preventing their return.