Russian population continues to fall

(Moscow News – themoscownews.com – Aleksandras Budrys – February 6, 2013)

The mortality rate in Russia exceeded the birth rate by more than 2,500 people last year contrary to expectations, the press office of the Labor and Social Security Ministry said on Wednesday.

Under the government demographic policy to 2025, the country’s population was expected to rise by 100,000 people in 2012 to 143 million people, a copy of the document on the ministry’s website showed.

In the 12 months of 2012, 1.896 million babies were born in Russia, which is 5.7 percent more than in the previous year and the highest number since 1990, it said.
But the death rate in 2012 was 1.898 million, although it was a 1.4 percent decline from 2011.

The ministry had recorded a natural growth of the population of 4,500 people in the first 11 months and said it expected an increase in the numbers for the full year.