Moscow: Russian population decreased by more than one million people in 2021, the Rosstat statistical body reported Friday, a historic decline that was not seen since the collapse of the Soviet Union.
The ongoing demographic problem has been exacerbated by the rosstat figure which shows more than 660,000 has died with Coronavirus since health officials recorded the first case in this country.
The new numbers continued the trend to decline from the previous year when the Russian population fell more than half a million.
The Covid-related death figure published every month by Rosstat is much higher than the death figure released by a separate government website, which is dedicated to tracking pandemics in this country.
The number of government websites only takes into account the deaths in which the virus was established as the main cause of death after an autopsy and showed only 329,443 total deaths.
The difference was put into criticism that the Russian government had underestimated the severity of the pandemic in one of the most hit by cases in the cases in the world.
Russia has struggled to curb a pandemic because of a slow vaccination drive coupled with limited strict steps and rampant non-compliance by wearing masks in public places.
Pandemic’s death count worsened the demographic crisis, related to a low birth rate and short life expectancy, which Russia faced for the past 30 years.
The birth rate has fallen because the current generation of parents was born in the 1990s, when the birth rate plunged due to economic uncertainty after the collapse of the Soviet Union.
The number of births per woman is around 1.5, a minimum lack of 2.1 is needed to update the population.
Economic concerns
The population shrinks Russia has been at the top of the domestic agenda of President Vladimir since he ruled for two decades ago.
In aimed at the nation, Putin often encourages Russia to have more children and live a healthier lifestyle to increase life expectancy.
The government has introduced a number of financial incentives for parents with more than one child, such as cash bonuses and a profitable mortgage level.
During the annual press conference last December, Putin stressed that 146 million people were not enough for the country from the “geopolitical point of view” and left the lack of labor.
He added that it was important to show that it was “joy to have children” and that “there is no bigger happiness in life and in the world”.
“The demographic crisis is clearly a failure of state policy,” said Sergei Zakharov, a demographic expert in a high-economic school based in Moscow.
He told AFP that steps to increase the birth rate encouraged the family to have previous children but did not change how many children they want in total.
He said the government’s influence on the birth rate was “limited” and the birth shifted to the previous period would result in the “demographic gap” in the future.
For Stepan Goncharov from the Independent Pollster Levada Center, a low birth rate is connected with “uncertainty about the future” that is widespread.
The standard of living in Russia continues to deteriorate since 2014, with a tense economy with recurring western sanctions, dependence on the oil and gas sector and corruption that are widespread.
“People have not stopped buying and their income and savings have been reduced,” Goncharov said.
According to last year’s survey by the Superjob recruitment website, 43 percent of Russia did not have savings.
“People don’t set aside money and don’t plan the family’s future,” Goncharov added.