International Migration of the Older Generation: Global and Russian Trends

The subject of this research is the international migration of the elderly (global and Russian trends). This topic is of particular relevance due to the fact that the elderly people make up 17% of international migrants (2019). In addition, older migration is at the intersection of four demographic “megatrends” - population aging, migration, population growth and urbanization. In addition, the international emigration of elderly Russians is practically not studied in the domestic literature. The hypothesis of the study is the assumption of the aging of international migration flows in accordance with the trend of demographic aging. Research method - secondary data analysis. The main empirical base is the data of the UN and Rosstat. Global statistics show that while the number of older migrants has increased, the proportion of older people has not changed. Thus, the hypothesis was not confirmed, which gives grounds to draw the following conclusion: migration lags behind aging. This is due to the weak mobilization and adaptive potential of the older generation. Russian statistics make it possible to single out 4 thousand people over the working age who moved abroad in 2019 (not including the CIS countries). The most popular destinations are Germany, Georgia. In conclusion, it examines the risks (negative impact on the labor potential of the country, etc.) and opportunities (rejuvenation of the age structure, reduction in age discrimination) for Russia in the context of the emigration of the elderly population. Analysis of the existing indices of active longevity showed the absence of migration as an indicator of activity, which significantly distorts this index. The direction of future research is to study the migration of Russian pensioners in the countries of Southeast Asia and China.