Before 1960 the population of Armenia was mainly rural, but since that time the process of urbanisation was observed  (see chart). In the past three decades there have been noticed young people’s high migration rates to urban areas, leaving a high concentration of elderly people in rural villages. Currently, more than two thirds of Armenian population lives in designated urban areas. About 1,2 millions of people live in the capital of Armenia, the city of Yerevan.

During 1988-1993, about 260,000 refugees of Armenian ethnicity exited Azerbaijan, Nagorno Karabakh, Abkhazia, and other CIS countries and have settled in Armenia. Some of these refugees have since migrated to Russia and other places due to economic reasons, but most of them (about 220,000) still live in Armenia. Besides, there are about 400,000 of ecological migrants that were displaced within the country, because of the 1988 earthquake, which took place in Northern Armenia. In 1997, the UNHCR assisted approximately 120,000 refugees and displaced people scattered throughout the country, however the problems of refugees are far from being solved. Most of them still do not have permanent accommodation and continue to live in the communal or the rest houses and hotels.

As it was described above, the past-Soviet social policy in Armenia is presently in a deep crisis, mainly because the state does not have financial ability to implement a social safety net of the social guarantees stipulated by the Constitution. Industry continues to be at standstill, unemployment is among the highest in the CIS, and poverty comprises more than 50% of the population. The access to basic social services is increasingly narrowed and the social assistance policy is being far from securing minimum living standards for the most needy. The housing situation for general population is not satisfactory at all.