Anatoliy Antonov, a member of the Presidential Council for Implementation of National Projects on Demographic Policy contends that by the middle of the 21 century the Russian population will shrink by 40 million people, reported Nezavisimaya Gazeta.  According to Antonov, currently the annual population loss in Russia constitutes 800,000 people. “If no serious measures are taken to address the current situation, the rate at which the Russian population disappears will double” by 2050, the news source quoted the expert as saying. According to Antonov, instead of worrying about the “expansion” of its densely-populated neighbors, such as China, Russia should be concerned with creating incentives that would motivate its inhabitants not to seek better life conditions abroad.

According to United Nations estimates, by 2020 the population in Russia will shrink by 20 percent and these numbers might be even higher if no immediate changes to the demographic policies of the country are made, added the source. Low birth and high mortality rates are considered to be among the major contributing factors to the demographic crisis in the country. As noted by Nezavisimaya Gazeta, the life expectancy of Russian men is 17 years lower than that of their French counterparts, and 20 years lower than the life span of Japanese men.

This information was originally published July 12, 2007 (www.ng.ru).