Russia's population is in a historic decline as emigration, war and a plunging birth rate form a 'perfect storm'
Russia is experiencing unusually high death rates from nonnatural causes, many related to alcoholism. Life expectancy, especially among working-age males, has dropped precipitously. The Russian fertility rate has declined to among the world's lowest, while its abortion rate is the highest.
Russia's population has been in near-constant decline for decades, and the coronavirus pandemic led to the country's largest natural population decline since the end of the Soviet Union in 2021.
The primary causes of Russia's population decrease and loss of about 700,000 to 800,000 citizens each year are related to a high death rate, low birth rate, high rate of abortions, and a low level of immigration.
Experts point out that Russia's fertility rates and population decline aren't as bad as during the early post-Soviet years; Russia's fertility growth rates from 1991 to 1996 averaged -5.5%, compared to 0.8% from 2015 to 2020. Still, “most long-term forecasts predict a decrease in Russia's population.
China has had the largest population in the world since at least 1950, when the UN started keeping records. But it is now projected to experience an absolute decline in its population beginning as early as 2023.
The number of men in Russia was historically lower than the number of women, which was a result of population losses during World War I and World War II. In 1950, in the age category from 25 to 29 years, 68 men were recorded per 100 women in the.
Interestingly, Russia is one of the most sparsely populated countries in the world, in part due to its harsh climate.
Mortality rates in Russia are very high as compared to those in other developed countries, particularly among men. A series of hypotheses associating heavy drinking and social and economic stresses of the transition period with drastic increases in mortality rates in Russia in the mid-1990s have been generated.
Russia is ranked 1st among 48 countries in Europe. Russia's population peaked in 1993 with 148.37 mn people after Russia's population decreased year by year. The Russian population is projected to reach 143.35 million in 2030 and decrease further to 135.82 million in 2050 and 126.14 million by 2100.
An upper estimate is for 700,000 Russians to have fled conscription since it was announced. Many went to Kazakhstan, Serbia, Turkey, the United Arab Emirates, Georgia, and Finland.
However, large parts of Russia are uninhabited or uninhabitable because permafrost (soil that remains frozen throughout the year and is unsuitable for agriculture) covers more than 60% of Russia's territory.
In the third quarter of 2022, 10.5 percent of the resident population of Russia lived under the poverty line.
Australia's population density is low because most of the country's interior is desert (also known as the outback) and presents extremely difficult living conditions.
Race & Ethnicity
The largest Russia racial/ethnic groups are White (96.0%) followed by Two or More (2.9%) and Asian (0.4%).
Generally, Russia is a safe country for expats. However, both the US Department of State and the UK Foreign and Commonwealth Office advise against travel to the North Caucasus region or to the Crimea, due to ongoing political unrest in these areas.
There are currently over 16,000 ethnic Russians in China who have lived their entire life as Chinese citizens. In the census of 1957 there were 9,000 ethnic Russians. The 1978 census counted just 600 Russians, but the figure rose to 2,935 in the 1982 census and 13,504 in the 1990 census.
Russia wanted to sell its Alaska territory, which was remote and difficult to defend, to the U.S. rather than risk losing it in battle with a rival such as Great Britain. Negotiations between Seward (1801-1872) and the Russian minister to the U.S., Eduard de Stoeckl, began in March 1867.
Japan's population has been shrinking since 2010, when the population peaked at 128.5 million. The United Nations currently projects that Japan's population will fall below 100 million around 2050, but the faster-than-expected decline in fertility may mean that Japan reaches that threshold ahead of schedule.
Polygamous marriages are not recognized in the Russian Federation. The Family Code of Russia states that a marriage can only be contracted between a man and a woman, neither of whom is married to someone else.
In absolute terms, Russian Federation has 10.6 mn more females than males, followed by Brazil (3.79 mn), the United States of America (3.46 mn), and Ukraine (3.18 mn). There are 14 countries where the female population is more than the male population by over one mn.
Russian Federation
As of 2021, all male citizens aged 18–27 are subject to conscription for 1 year of active duty military service in armed forces, but the precise number of conscripts for each of the recruitment campaigns, which are usually held twice annually, is prescribed by particular Presidential Decree.