Alexandre Fenelon
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Birth rate has increased and morality has decreased, but the population is still dropping.
Up until a year or so ago, this was mostly being made up for by immigration, mainly of ethnic Russians from the other former Soviet Republics, but also Georgians, Kazaks, Uzbeks, Chechens, etc.
See following report by Interfax. This is gonna be a real burden on the pension system.
Chris Doss The Russia Journal ----------------------------
Russian population to shrink by 30% to about 100 million people by 2050 - Statistics
MOSCOW. March 27 (Interfax) - Russia's population is expected to shrink by 30% to 101.9 million people by the end on 2050, the Russian State Statistics
Committee said, referring to the most probable forecast of the development of the country's demographic situation.
Statistics experts have estimated that the country's entire population will fall from the current 144 million to 131 million by 2020, to 121.5 million by 2030, to 111.6 million by 2040 and to 101.9 by 2050.
The Russian State Statistics Committee has also worked out best- case and
worst-case scenarios of the development of the country's demographic situation, with all of them saying that the Russian population will drop by 2050. Even if Russia's demographic situation develops under the best-case scenario, the country's population will fall to 122.6 million people by 2050
and to 77.2 million people or by almost 47% from the current figure, under the worst-case scenario.
As the fall in the country's male population will be more significant than that of the female population, the male to female ratio will worsen by 2050.
According to the most probable scenario, the male population will fall by 32.2 %, compared with a 27.4% decline in the female population.
The number of economically active people of the total Russian population is expected to grow in the first half of the current century and reach its peak by 2006-2008, which is to be followed by a decline. The current economically active population stands at 60.1% and is expected to rise to 63.2% by 2005, with a fall to 57.9% by 2020 and to 49.7% by 2050.
All scenarios forecast that the Russian population will continue to grow older, with the number of pensioners to grow to 35.2% by 2050 from the current 20.6%.
The life expectancy of Russian men is expected to rise to 62.5 years by 2020 from the current 59, and to 66.3 years by 2050. The average female life
expectancy rate will rise to 74.4 years by 2020 from the current 72.2 and to
77.7 years by 2050.