Russia’s population will shrink by 11 million people by 2050 and will increasingly be concentrated in cities, according to the latest United Nations estimates.
Russia has been in the midst of a generational demographic crisis, which newly inaugurated President Vladimir Putin said he would seek to reverse in his term in office until 2024. Official data indicates that Russia’s birth rate fell to its lowest level in a decade last year.
As the world’s population is projected to grow, Russia’s population will decline from 143.9 million to 132.7 million by 2050, the UN Department of Economic and Social Affairs population division said in a report on urbanization released on Wednesday.
Three-quarters of Russians in 2050, or 110.6 million people, will live in urban areas. Urbanization will lead to a decline in Russia’s rural population from 36.8 million to 22.1 million.
Globally, the UN report estimates the urban population will increase to two-thirds by 2050.
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