MOSCOW, January 27 (RIA Novosti) - Russia's
population had declined by 0.08% year-on-year, as of December
1, 2008, to total 141.9 million, the State Statistics Service
said on Tuesday.
The number of deaths during the first 11 months of 2008
was 1.9 million, 6,400 less than for the same period in the
previous year, while 1.6 million babies were born, 99,000 more
than in 2007, the service said.
It said that the natural decline in population was 337,300
people, adding that immigration made up for 65.2% of drop, so
the actual population had only fallen by 105,400 as of December
1.
Russia's population has been in steady decline since the
market reforms and economic hardships of the 1990s, leading
many experts to worry about a demographic crisis in the near
future.
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