Between mid- January to mid-October 2018, nearly 2,730, 290 Lebanese people left the country and 2,695,788 people returned, An Nahar newspaper reported today. This means that around 34,502 people never returned against 20,964 people coming back during the same period of last year. The rates, An Nahar wrote, are a natural consequence of the socio-economic situation in Lebanon, noting that it is an alarming indicator of the future of the country, especially that the majority of those migrating are young people. If the reasons and goals for travel stayed unknown, An Nahar analyzed, there are many youths (about 8,000 persons) who go abroad for study and then return to their country. This number represents roughly half of the departures in the month of September which is the start of the academic calendar, An Nahar concluded. (An Nahar, December 27, 2018)