Russian population is shrinking every year, and the Ukraine war has accelerated the trend.
Three factors combine to depress Russia’s population:
- Low birth rate
- High mortality rate
- High EMIGRATION rate – a Russian brain drain
Low Russian Birth Rate
- Russia has a birth rate of 1.5 births per woman, which is significantly lower than Europe and other Western countries
- Russian government subsidies to help support families has not reversed this trend
- Russian birth rate collapsed in the 1990s, and as a result, there are much fewer Russians in their 20s and 30s, the common age for raising children. This population crunch will repeat itself in generation after generation
High Russian Mortality Rate
- High rate of alcohol abuse
- High rate of drug abuse
- High rate of HIV
- Lower quality of heath care, especially preventive and population health care
- Over 19,000 Russian soldiers killed in the Ukraine war
- Tens of thousands seriously wounded in the Ukraine war, and others psychologically wounded, who may die at an early age
High Russian EMIGRATION Rate
- Over 200,000 Russians have left the country since Russia invaded Ukraine
- This Russian brain drain continues year after year, and Russia loses many of its educated and skilled people. This loss of human capital is more costly than a big monetary loss, because it is irreplaceable
- People who emigrate bring their financial capital and earning capacity with them, which compounds over the years
- The immigration rate to Russia has been consistently lower than the emigration rate.
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