The key facts
- From January to September 2026, 1,535,026 citizens of Uzbekistan entered Russia for work — the leaders in the number of labor migrants
- 665,892 people arrived from Tajikistan, and 289,061 from Kyrgyzstan
- Security Council of Russia: 1.8 million administrative offense protocols against foreigners, expulsion decisions for 143.1 thousand, 4.8 thousand forcibly deported
The scale of labor migration over nine months
From January to September 2026, millions of foreign citizens entered Russia for work, and citizens of Uzbekistan topped the list: 1,535,026 people. Tajikistan came second with 665,892 arrivals, and Kyrgyzstan third with 289,061. Thus, from just the three Central Asian countries, more than 2 million people arrived in Russia to earn money.
Who else comes to work
The top five also included Kazakhstan (176,037 people) and China (127,176). They are followed by citizens of Armenia — 111,235, Azerbaijan — 83,991, India — 38,816, Turkmenistan — 19,038, and Turkey — 12,873. For Uzbekistan, these figures mean that labor migration to Russia remains a mass phenomenon: over nine months, more than one and a half million citizens of the country left for work.
Administrative measures against migrants
On November 12, the Security Council of Russia provided information on migrant offenses: from January to September, 1.8 million administrative offense protocols were drawn up against foreigners. Expulsion decisions were made regarding 143.1 thousand arrivals, and another 4.8 thousand people were forcibly deported. Earlier, the Russian Ministry of Internal Affairs had announced the total number of migrants in the country; the offense data are given in aggregate for all foreign citizens, without a breakdown by citizenship in the information provided.
