Alarming figures of Lebanese leaving Lebanon?!

22,114 Lebanese have left the country without return between mid-August 2020 and mid-September 2020, compared with 57,879 in the same period last year.

Based on the number of departing and arriving passengers during this period, and as a result of the downturn in air travel due to the COVID-19 restrictions and the Lebanese financial crisis, which severely limit the possibility of travelling, we can establish the following hypothesis:

-During the period from August 15, 2019 to September 15, 2019, the number of Lebanese arriving to and departing from Lebanon reached 934,677, with departures outnumbering arrivals by 57,879.

- During the period from August 15, 2020 to September 15, 2020, the number of Lebanese arriving to and departing from Lebanon reached 86,614, with departures outnumbering arrivals by 22,114.

-If in 2020 we adopted the same departure rate observed in 2019, the number of departing passengers should have been 5,364 instead of 22,114. This allows us to conclude that the number of departing passengers has risen by 312% in 2020 compared to 2019. It is just a hypothesis that remains to be proven for being based on scientific research and not on real accurate figures.

A table showing the movement of Lebanese into and from Lebanon during the period from August 15, 2019 to September 15, 2019, compared with the same period in 2020.

Source: Information International based on the GDGS.