Russia Strives to Reverse "Terribly Low" Birth Rate: Kremlin

Moscow: The Kremlin announced on Friday that it is "working hard" to reverse the declining birth rates in Russia, warning that "disastrous" demographic trends threaten the country's future.

Since the collapse of the USSR, Russia has faced numerous demographic challenges, including an aging population, an outflow of men due to the conflict in Ukraine, and the lowest fertility rate in 17 years.

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"It is now at a terribly low level—1.4 births per woman. This is comparable to European countries, Japan, and so on. But this is disastrous for the future of the nation," Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov stated at a media festival.

"Anyone with many children is a hero. We live in the largest country in the world, yet our population decreases every year. The only way to address this is to increase the average birth rate," Peskov added.

At the breakup of the Soviet Union in 1991, Russia had a population of about 148 million, a figure that has now declined to around 144 million after a prolonged period of high deaths and low births in the 1990s.

Despite President Vladimir Putin's government offering generous payouts and mortgage subsidies to large families, the birth rate has not recovered since Soviet times.

Recent issues include a high number of COVID-19 deaths, hundreds of thousands of men fleeing to avoid mobilization for the conflict in Ukraine, and migration into Russia hitting a ten-year low in 2023.

Demographers predict that Russia's population could drop to 130 million by the 2040s.

When asked whether young families could still have faith in the future, the Kremlin highlighted similar demographic challenges in other countries.

"This is unfortunately a trend," Peskov said. "The situation will remain difficult for some time, but the government is working hard on this issue, and it is one of the top priorities of the President of Russia," he concluded.

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