Citizens spend their weekend in Gorky Park. Photo / Getty
Citizens spend their weekend in Gorky Park. Photo / Getty
According to the statistics agency Rosstat, Russia's population declined by more than one million in 2021, a historic drop not seen since the collapse of the Soviet Union.
More than 660,000 people died with Covid-19 since health officials recorded the country's first case in Russia.
But that doesn't account for more than 340,000 others.
The new figures continue an alarming downward trend from 2020 when Russia's population fell by more than half a million.
The Covid-related death figures published by Rosstat are far higher than death figures released by a separate government website.
Russia is considered one of the worst-hit countries in the world.
Russia has struggled to contain Covid due to severly low vaccination rates, limited restrictive measure and widespread noncompliance with mask wearing.
The pandemic death toll has heightened the population dereases, which is linked to low birth rates and a short life expectancy, that Russia has faced for the past 30 years.
Birthrates have been falling because the generation now becoming parents were born in the 1990s, when the birthrate plunged due to economic uncertainties after the collapse of the Soviet Union.
The number of births per woman stands at around 1.5, well short of the minimum of 2.1 necessary to renew the population.
Russian President Vladimir Putin. Photo / Getty
For two decades President Vladimir Putin has ben focused on Russia's shrinking population plight.
Putin has often encouraged Russians to have more children and live a healthier lifestyle to improve life expectancy.
He's gone as far as introducing a number of financial incentives for parents with more than one child, such as cash bonuses and favourable mortgage rates.
Putin claimed that 146 million people are not enough for the country from a "geopolitical standpoint" and leave labour shortages.
He added that it is important to show that it is a "joy to have children" and that there is "no greater happiness in life and in the world".
"The demographic crisis is definitely a failure of the state's policies," said Sergei Zakharov, a demography expert at the Higher School of Economics based in Moscow.
He told AFP that measures to increase the birthrate encourage families to have children earlier but do not change how many children they want in total.
He said the government's influence on birthrates is "limited".
Citizens spend their weekend in Gorky Park. Photo / Getty
Since 2014, living stands in Russia have continuously deteriorated due to economic sanctions by western powerhouses, a dependence on oil and gas, as well as corruption.
"People haven't stopped buying and their income and savings have reduced," Goncharov told AFP.
According to last year's survey by recruitment website SuperJob, 43 per cent of Russians do not have any savings.
