More newborn than dead
The August demographic figures are great news for Russia. For the first time in 15 years, more people were born than died. No one can say exactly what causes the baby-boom.
The August figures from Russia’s Health Ministry shows that about 1.000 more babies were born than people that died the same month, according to the Moscow News.
The Russian government has over the last few years put a lot of efforts attempting to boost the population. In 2007, then-President Vladimir Putin hold a speech to the nation where he declared 2008 to be the “Year of the Family.”
Huge advertisements promoting the “Year of the Family” could be seen all over Moscow in 2008.
Putin also presented a detailed plan for improving childcare benefits in order to encourage women to have at least the two children needed to maintain a stable population, as reported by BarentsObserver.
Birth rates hit record high in 2008 with 260,000 more births than in 2005. The 2009 birth rate figures might be even higher.
Russia’s demographic crisis has for the last years resulted in an annual decline of nearly 700,000 people a year. Since 1993 the population has fallen by 6.6 million to currently around 142 million. So, the August figures show that Russia for the first time in 15 years has put an end to the population decline.
