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Russian Population To Fall By A Third By 2050 |
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| RUSSIA: January 14, 2005 | ||
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MOSCOW - Russia's population will fall by a third by the middle of this century, when the world's biggest country will have 100 million people -- less than Egypt, Vietnam or Uganda, Russia's Security Council said on Thursday.
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Russia has been in the grip of a demographic crisis since before the fall of the Soviet Union, as economic collapse cut the birth rate and rampant smoking, drinking and growing levels of disease have pushed up mortality. "Forecasts show that by the middle of the 21st century the population will fall by around one third, to around 100 million people," the Security Council said in a statement on Web site www.scrf.gov.ru. "The demographic situation in Russia is extremely unfavourable, and in the next few years it could get even worse ... The average life expectancy of a Russian man is 15 years less than that of the average American man." Officials in areas as diverse as the economy and defence are concerned about the trend, seeing a collapse in Russia's population from the current 145 million as catastrophic for the country's future. According to forecasts by the US Census Bureau, a population of 100 million in 2050 would give Russia the 17th largest population in the world, from its current eighth place. Egypt, Uganda, Vietnam and Ethiopia will all move above it, according to the figures.
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REUTERS NEWS SERVICE
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