RUSSIA
Russia marks record 12-month population decline
October 14, 2021 - Russia has undergone its largest peacetime population decline in recorded history over the last 12 months, according to an analysis of official government statistics.
Russia’s natural population – determined by the difference between the country’s death rate and birth rate – declined by 997,000 between October 2020 and September 2021, demographer Alexei Raksha calculated.
The sharp fall comes as Russia, which has one of the world’s highest Covid-19 death tolls, battles a fourth wave of the pandemic. The country has recorded at least 660,000 excess deaths since the start of the coronavirus pandemic.