Kremlin acknowledges demographic crisis 'catastrophic for the future of the nation'

Photo: Alexander Nemenov Agence France-Presse Families walk in front of the Kremlin's Spasskaya Tower (left), in central Moscow, in July 2024.

Agence France-Presse in Moscow

Published on July 26

< li>Europe

The Kremlin noted on Friday that the demographic situation was “catastrophic for the future of the nation”, while the various policies implemented in Russia over the past quarter of a century have not succeeded in boosting the birth rate.

“We live in the largest country in the world, and there are fewer of us every year. The only way to fix this is to increase the birth rate,” the Russian presidential spokesman said, according to Tass.

“It is now terribly low: 1.4 [children per woman, editor's note]. This figure is comparable to that of European countries, Japan, etc. But it is catastrophic for the future of the nation,” he added.

Since coming to the Kremlin in 2000, Vladimir Putin has made Russia's demographic crisis, inherited from the Soviet period, a priority. Although life expectancy has increased, the birth rate has remained very low and far from the generational renewal threshold of 2.1 children per woman.

This demographic situation was exacerbated in the 1990s, due to the very low level of births in this period of social and economic crisis which followed the fall of the USSR.

200% Deposit Bonus up to €3,000 180% First Deposit Bonus up to $20,000

However, it is this very small generation that is old enough to have children, but which today has very few, which risks accelerating the Russian decline.

However, the Kremlin indicated on Friday that it did not consider the authorities' policy of encouraging births to be a failure.

M. Peskov, asked about his remarks during a telephone briefing, said Russia’s low birth rate was not the result of Russians’ lack of confidence in the future, pointing to the low birth rates in Western Europe and Japan.

He also cited the “demographic gap” caused by huge losses during World War II and the fall of the Soviet Union.

Read also

• COVID-19 has caused birth rates to plummet almost everywhere in the West
• World population to peak at 10.3 billion in 2080s
• Japan’s birthrate recovery ‘cannot wait,’ says prime minister

“Demography is a separate field: the measures implemented do not have an immediate effect, the effect is delayed. Therefore, the situation will remain difficult for some time, but the government is really working hard for this and this topic is one of the main priorities of the President of Russia,” Mr. Peskov insisted.

According to the statistics agency Rosstat, Russia had 146 million inhabitants at the beginning of 2024. Between 2000 and 2022, the COVID years, the “permanent” population fell by about 500,000 people each year, and in 2023 the decline was just under 300,000.

Russia does not communicate on these military losses in Ukraine, which could also affect the birth rate for years to come.

According to the Russian website RBC.ru, a media outlet specializing in economics, Rosstat predicts that the Russian population will plunge by three million by 2030, or about 143 million inhabitants.