Over half a million left Kazakhstan for other countries for permanent residence in the recent decade

Over half a million people left Kazakhstan for other countries for permanent residence from 2001 to 2011, Newskaz.ru reports, citing Alikhan Smailov, Head of the National Agency for Statistics. “For the period under review Kazakhstan accommodated 608 000 newcomers, with 668 000 people leaving for other countries for permanent residence. Since 2004 Kazakhstan has seen annual migration surplus; however, if we take the whole decade the migration balance made up minus 59 000 people”, he elaborated. According to him, “the country’s population as of March 1, 2012 stands at 16.7 million people, with 9.1 million (54.7%) of them being urban residents and the other 7.5 million (45.3%) being rural residents.