The Russian population is decreasing. In 1995, Russia counted 148 million inhabitants versus 143 million in 2004. The low level of the birth rate (1,26 children/woman) is a major problem. Pensioners make up a fourth of the population and the typical family size is three people. Life expectancy is significantly lower than in the European Union.

The urbanisation of Russia is relatively high. Around two-thirds of the population live in cities. But nearly 70 % are concentrated in Western Russia. Moscow, the largest city in Europe, has a population of over 10 million, and St. Petersburg has 4.7 million citizens.

Population	143,782,338 (July 2004 est.)
Age structure	0-14 years: 15% (male 11,064,109; female 10,518,595) 15-64 years: 71.3% (male 49,534,076; female 52,958,107) 65 years and over: 13.7% (male 6,177,580; female 13,529,871) (2004 est.)
Median age	total: 37.9 years male: 34.7 years female: 40.7 years (2004 est.)
Population growth rate	-0.45% (2004 est.)
Birth rate	9.63 births/1,000 population (2004 est.)
Death rate	15.17 deaths/1,000 population (2004 est.)
Net migration rate	1.02 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2004 est.)
Life expectancy at birth	total population: 66.39 years male: 59.91 years female: 73.27 years (2004 est.)
Total fertility rate	1.26 children born/woman (2004 est.)

Source: CIA World factbook, 2004

Other useful sections of the website

 

The Russian population

Statistics in Russia