Russia Population

Russia, which is also known as the Russian Federation, is located in Eastern Europe and Northern Asia. It is the world’s largest country landmass and covers 17.1 million square miles, making it 7.2 million square miles larger than the second-largest country, Canada. It stretches across 11 time zones and shares a land border with 14 different countries. It is home to over 145 million people but, due to the country’s size, is sparsely populated. Overall, Russia has a population density of 9 people per square kilometer, making it one of the least densely populated countries in the world.

An urban-based population, with a twist

Due to its northern location, much of Russia’s weather is harsh and unrelenting. This makes it difficult to farm and maintain a consistent flow of supplies. For this reason, over 73% of the population choose to live in urban areas. Russia’s largest cities, Moscow and St. Petersburg, have over 17 million residents between them. However, recent studies have shown that Russia may be emptying from within, with more of the population choosing to “de-urbanize” and move to the countryside. The first wave of this was noticed in the early 2000s as urban populations dipped in favor of rural living. While the trend towards urbanization continues to rise, the increase has plateaued much more than it did in the 1960s and 70s.

There is also a huge trend towards seasonal deurbanization in Russia. It’s long been a common tradition in Russia for families to maintain a dacha—a simple, country home—alongside their home in the city. Russian families may decamp to their dacha in the warmer months where they may keep a garden an a few goats. The maintenance of these dachas has created a secondary type of suburbanization/deurbanization that has slowed the typical deurbanization seen in developing countries.

A dropping growth rate

Russia’s relatively small population is in decline. With a current growth rate of -0.05%, it’s predicted that Russia’s population will drop to around 132 million by 2050—a decrease of almost 12 million people. So what is causing Russia’s decline? One key reason is a ‘war echo’. While it may seem that WWII is in the distant past, the devastating loss of life the Soviet Union took during those years created a “hole” in the countries growth. The death of 25 to 30 million people meant that people who died in the early 1940s didn’t have children. The absence of these people and whatever children they may have had caused a population downturn in the 1960s, then again in the 1990s, and now Russia faces it’s third population echo of war.

Even when Russia recovers from the war echo, it faces what many developed countries now face: a low birth rate. There is currently no developed country in the world where families are, on average, having two of more children. Because of this, citizen-based population growth in developed countries has simply stopped.

A plan to attract immigrants

President Vladimir Putin has put into place plans to increase the amount of Russian-speaking migrants to help offset the country’s declining population. The goal of this plan is to attract up to 10 million migrants between 2019 and 2025. While Russia did see some promising figures in 2019, with 98,000 migrants recorded in the country, this was seen as an anomaly. Currently, the majority of Russia’s immigrants come from neighbouring countries like Kazakhstan, Ukraine and Tajikistan. Unfortunately, even if this plan succeeded, the fast that 17 to 20% of Russians are seeking to permanently move to another country could hinder the country’s plan to bolster their shrinking population.