Editing Demographics of Russia (section)

=== Demographic crisis  ===
{{See also|Aging of Russia}}
[[File:Deserted village at Sukhona River.jpg|thumb|Thousands of abandoned villages are scattered across Russia<ref>{{cite news |date=2 May 2014 |title=Russia's decaying villages |url=https://www.aljazeera.com/gallery/2014/5/2/russias-decaying-villages |work=Al Jazeera |archive-date=1 July 2023 |access-date=9 August 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230701145913/https://www.aljazeera.com/gallery/2014/5/2/russias-decaying-villages |url-status=live }}</ref>.]]
[[File:Population of Russia-rus.PNG|thumb|Total population of Russia 1950–2010]]
After having peaked at 148,689,000 in 1991, the population then decreased, falling to 142,737,196 by 2008.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://cbsd.gks.ru/|title=Интерактивная витрина|website=cbsd.gks.ru|access-date=16 September 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170130012026/http://cbsd.gks.ru/|archive-date=30 January 2017|url-status=dead}}</ref> Russia has become increasingly reliant on immigration to maintain its population; 2021 had the highest net immigration since 1994,<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.demoscope.ru/weekly/2022/0937/barom01.php |title=Миграция в России, предварительные итоги 2021 года (Migration in Russia, preliminary results of 2021) |publisher=Институт демографии НИУ ВШЭ имени А.Г. Вишневского (Institute of Demography, National Research University A.G. Vishnevsky) |date=2022 |access-date=2022-03-26 |archive-date=27 May 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230527114106/http://www.demoscope.ru/weekly/2022/0937/barom01.php |url-status=live }}</ref> despite which there was a small overall decline from 146.1 million to 145.4 million in 2021, the largest decline in over a decade.<ref name="interfaxru2022">{{cite web |url=https://interfax.com/newsroom/top-stories/75708/ |title=Natural population decrease in Russia down by 21% in Jan 2022 vs Jan 2021, but twice higher than in Jan 2020 – Rosstat |date=6 March 2022 |publisher=Interfax News Agency |access-date=2022-03-26 |archive-date=12 December 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231212161240/https://interfax.com/newsroom/top-stories/75708/ |url-status=live }}</ref>

The [[Rate of natural increase|natural population]] had declined by 997,000 between October 2020 and September 2021 (the difference between the number of births and the number of deaths over a period).<ref name="auto">{{cite web |url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2021/oct/13/russias-population-undergoes-largest-ever-peacetime-decline |title=Russia's population undergoes largest ever peacetime decline |first=Pjotr |last=Sauer |date=13 October 2021 |work=The Guardian |access-date=13 October 2021 |archive-date=13 October 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211013112949/https://www.theguardian.com/world/2021/oct/13/russias-population-undergoes-largest-ever-peacetime-decline |url-status=live }}</ref> The natural death rate in January 2020, 2021, and 2022 have each been nearly double the natural birth rate.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://interfax.com/newsroom/top-stories/75708/ |title=Natural population decrease in Russia down by 21% in Jan 2022 vs Jan 2021, but twice higher than in Jan 2020 – Rosstat |date=6 March 2022 |publisher=Interfax News Agency |access-date=9 August 2023 |archive-date=12 December 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231212161240/https://interfax.com/newsroom/top-stories/75708/ |url-status=live }}</ref>

Following the [[Russian invasion of Ukraine]] in 2022, the demographic crisis in the country has deepened,<ref>{{cite news |title=Russia stares into population abyss as Putin sends its young men to die |url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/business/2023/02/26/russia-stares-population-abyss-putin-sends-young-men-die/ |work=The Telegraph |date=26 February 2023 |archive-date=30 December 2023 |access-date=9 August 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231230083717/https://www.telegraph.co.uk/business/2023/02/26/russia-stares-population-abyss-putin-sends-young-men-die/ |url-status=live }}</ref> as the country has allegedly suffered high [[Casualties of the Russo-Ukrainian War|military fatalities]] while facing renewed [[human capital flight]] and brain drain caused by Western mass-sanctions and boycotts.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.ft.com/content/8c576a9c-ba65-4fb1-967a-fc4fa5457c62 |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20221210/https://www.ft.com/content/8c576a9c-ba65-4fb1-967a-fc4fa5457c62 |archive-date=10 December 2022 |url-access=subscription|title=Ukraine war threatens to deepen Russia's demographic crisis|date=4 April 2022|last1=Cocco|first1=Federica|last2=Ivanonva|first2=Polina|work=[[Financial Times]]|access-date=6 October 2022|location=London}}</ref> Many commentators predict that the situation will be worse than during the 1990s.<ref>{{cite journal|url=https://jamestown.org/program/russias-demographic-collapse-is-accelerating/|title=Russia's Demographic Collapse Is Accelerating|last=Goble|first=Paul|volume=19|issue=127|date=18 August 2022|location=Washington, D.C.|journal=Eurasia Daily Monitor|publisher=[[Jamestown Foundation]]|archive-date=21 October 2023|access-date=9 August 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231021105942/https://jamestown.org/program/russias-demographic-collapse-is-accelerating/|url-status=live}}</ref> Although, a large part of the emigrants have returned home to Russia in a continuing process.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://carnegieendowment.org/russia-eurasia/politika/2024/07/russian-emigration-in-flux?lang=en |title=Should I Stay or Should I Go? Russian Emigration in Flux |work=[[Carnegie Endowment for International Peace]] |location=Washington, D.C. |date=11 July 2024 |last1=Kamalov |first1=Emil |last2=Sergeeva |first2=Ivetta |access-date=8 March 2025 |archive-date=26 February 2025 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250226202210/https://carnegieendowment.org/russia-eurasia/politika/2024/07/russian-emigration-in-flux?lang=en |url-status=live }}</ref>

In March 2023 ''The Economist'' reported that "Over the past three years the country has lost around 2 million more people than it would ordinarily have done, as a result of war [in Ukraine], [[COVID-19 pandemic in Russia|disease]] and [[Russian emigration following the Russian invasion of Ukraine|exodus]]."<ref name="economist-2023">{{cite news |title=Russia's population nightmare is going to get even worse |url=https://www.economist.com/europe/2023/03/04/russias-population-nightmare-is-going-to-get-even-worse |newspaper=[[The Economist]] |date=4 March 2023 |archive-date=11 March 2023 |access-date=9 August 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230311153739/https://www.economist.com/europe/2023/03/04/russias-population-nightmare-is-going-to-get-even-worse |url-status=live }}</ref>

The UN is projecting that the decline that started in 2021 will continue, and if current demographic conditions persist, Russia's population will be 120 million in 50 years, a decline of about 17%.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2022 |title=World Population Prospects 2022, Standard Projections, Compact File, Variant tab, Total Population, as of 1 January column |url=https://population.un.org/wpp/Download/Standard/MostUsed/ |website=United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs, Population Division |access-date=9 August 2023 |archive-date=11 July 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220711213112/https://population.un.org/wpp/Download/Standard/MostUsed/ |url-status=dead }}</ref><ref name="economist-2023"/> In January 2024, the Russian statistics agency [[Federal State Statistics Service (Russia)|Rosstat]] predicted that Russia's population could drop to 130 million by 2046.<ref>{{cite news |title=Russia's Population Could Fall to 130Mln by 2046 – Rosstat |url=https://www.themoscowtimes.com/2024/01/10/russias-population-could-fall-to-130mln-by-2046-rosstat-a83687 |work=[[The Moscow Times]] |date=12 January 2024 |archive-date=14 January 2024 |access-date=28 May 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240114183040/https://www.themoscowtimes.com/2024/01/10/russias-population-could-fall-to-130mln-by-2046-rosstat-a83687 |url-status=live }}</ref>