In Russia, a census began on Friday, which has been postponed several times due to the pandemic.
Since the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991, Russia’s population has gradually declined due to low birth rates, an underfunded health care system and emigration.
The coronavirus pandemic, which claimed the lives of at least 400,000 people in Russia, according to Rosstat, has exacerbated the demographic crisis.
In 2020, Russia’s population shrank by 510,000, the biggest decline in 15 years, Rosstat estimates.
The office also concluded that Russia’s population, which was about 146.2 million on January 1, had shrunk by another 595,000 by the end of August.
Rosstat data show that the birth rate in Russia does not change much, but mortality has risen sharply.
Birth rates are falling in the country, as the generation that is now getting older was born in the 1990s, when the birth rate fell sharply due to economic instability.
President Vladimir Putin, who has cited poverty as a key factor in limiting family size, has come up with various financial initiatives over the years to encourage Russians to give birth to more children and thus increase the population.
In Russia, the number of people infected with Covid-19 and the number of victims of Covid-19 reached new records this week, but the vaccination campaign is slow and the lack of strict restrictions allows the virus to spread rapidly.
Due to the pandemic, much of the census will take place virtually, but the censors will be regularly tested for Covid-19.
Since the collapse of the Soviet Union, two censuses have been conducted in Russia in 2002 and 2010.
The only time since the collapse of the Soviet Union when Russia’s population grew was in 2014, when Russia occupied Ukraine-owned Crimea, increasing its population by 2.5 million.
The census will take place until November 14 and the initial results are expected in April.
–
