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By Brendan Cole
Senior Reporter
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Russia's birth rate has plunged to its lowest level since Vladimir Putin came to power, according to statistics that show the country's growing demographic problem.
Russia's Deputy Health Minister Viktor Fisenko told a government committee meeting that the number of births in the country had dwindled to a level not seen since 2000, according to Russian news outlets including Interfax.
Russian government figures show that there has been no increase in birth rates since 2017 and Russia faces the prospect of a shrinking population.
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Newsweek has contacted the Kremlin by email for further comment.
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Why It Matters
Putin said he is committed to reversing Russia's declining birth rate but this has been hit hard by his full-scale invasion of Ukraine because of high Russian casualty figures and a large exodus of men of working age avoiding the draft.
Putin announced a government initiative in December to boost the birth rate but the latest figures show the extent of the demographic crisis his country faces.
What To Know
Fisenko told a government committee meeting that the number of births in Russia had dwindled to a level not seen since the turn of the century, which itself was a historic low.
The highest number of births this century was 1,942,683 in 2014. By 2023 this figure had dropped by 700,000 to 1,264,354, less even than the previous low of 1,266,800 recorded in 2000, the year Putin came to power.
Russian state media reports of Fisenko's remarks on January 30 did not include details on what the most recent number of births for the country was.
Data published by Statista on November 7, 2024, said there were 1.264 million births in Russia in 2023, although it is not clear if Fisenko was referring to this or 2024's numbers.
According to Macrotrends.net, Russia's birthrate in 2024 was 11.108 per 1,000 people, a 1.95 percent decline from the previous year. The rate for 2023 of 11.329 per 1,000 people was itself a 2.48 percent decline from 2022.
Russian business publication RBC noted recent figures from state statistics agency Rosstat, which said there has been no natural population growth in Russia since 2017.
The average number of children born per woman is predicted to decrease to 1.32—well below the level of two required to replace the population and the 2.17 figure needed for the population to grow.
Fisenko said Russia's birth rate had decreased the most in Kalmykia, the Altai Republic, Kamchatka and Vologda, while the largest growth was recorded in the Caucasus republics of Dagestan, North Ossetia, Chechnya, Kabardino-Balkaria and Ingushetia.
However, the lawmaker expressed optimism that the birthrate in Russia could increase in the coming years, starting from 2027 and that by the 2030s, Rosstat expects an increase in the absolute number of births.
What People Are Saying
Russia's Deputy Health Minister Viktor Fisenko: "The absolute number of births approached the level of 2000, which was one of the lowest values of this indicator in the history of modern Russia."
What Happens Next
The Kremlin has described demographic decline as a challenge and announced a government initiative in December called a "Strategy of Action" that will provide resources for people to have more children between now and 2030.
Russia's government has also come up with a program in which female students aged 18 to 23 could be paid for having a child and financial incentives have already been put in place in the region of Nizhny Novgorod.
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