Deaths exceed births in Russia in 2012

PanARMENIAN.Net - Deaths exceeded births in Russia by more than 2,500 in 2012, the Labor and Social Protection Ministry said Wednesday, Feb 6, underscoring that natural population growth remains an elusive goal despite officials' earlier expectations, RIA Novosti reported.

“A natural population loss of 2,573 was registered in 2012 in the country,” the ministry said. During the 12 months of 2012, over 1,896,000 children were born, which is 102,400 (5.7 percent) more than in 2011 – the highest figure since 1990, the ministry said. (It was not immediately clear whether the ministry meant this was the highest growth rate or the highest increase in absolute terms.)

At the same time, deaths numbered more than 1,898,000 in 2012, down 26,200 (1.4 percent) on 2011.

Population decline has been one of the worst social issues to face Russia since the collapse of the Soviet Union.

Despite large-scale labor migration into the country, the population has decreased by about 2 million over the past 10 years, from around 145 million in 2002 to about 143 million in 2012, according to the latest census figures.