The mood to emigrate from Russia is at an all-time low following a turbulent election season marked with the rise of grassroots protests, according to state-run VTsIOM pollster.
However, the drive to leave is the highest among the young and the supporters of political hopeful Mikhail Prokhorov, the only presidential candidate to speak at recent street protests in Moscow, VTsIOM said in a survey released on Monday.
Eleven percent of the respondents in the poll, held earlier this month, want to emigrate from Russia, compared to 22 percent in June 2011 and 16 percent in 1991, the year of Soviet Union’s demise when the poll was taken for the first time.
Of those who voted for Prokhorov in the election, mainly from the middle classes, a quarter said said they want to leave, the highest figure among all the candidates’ supporters. Meanwhile, 93 percent of Prime Minister Vladimir Putin's supporters intend to stay.
Young adults aged 18 to 24 are the most restless age group, with 25 percent of them wanting to emigrate. Among those over 60, only 1 percent wants to leave the country.
The poll covered 1,600 respondents nationwide and had a margin of error of 3.4 percentage points.
