Poverty and inequality are to blame: since 1990, there are 22 million fewer Russians in the world

The number of Russians on Earth has decreased to 124.5 million people, according to the Equality channel, citing Rosstat data and research by Alexander Arefiev, associate professor at the State Institute of the Russian Language.

“The Russian people make up only 1.6% of the world's population. For comparison: in the USSR in 1990, there were 146.6 million Russians by nationality, or 2.8% of the world's population,” the expert writes.

The population of the Russian Federation by September 1, 2022 decreased to 146.54 million people, follows from the census for October 2021 and the subsequent natural and migration increase. Russians became 109.3 million people, or 74.6% of the population, follows from the dynamics of fertility, mortality and migration of Russian regions of the Russian Federation (where the titular nation is more than 80%).

This is 1.7 million Russians less than according to the 2010 census, when there were 111 million (77.7%). However, the natural decline over 12 years was greater - 3.9 million Russians, but Crimea compensated for it by 1.7 million, and another 0.49 million - the influx of Russians from Ukraine.

The number of Russians in 2022, million people:

Total in the world - 124.5

Russia (Sep 1, 2022) - 109.3

Ukraine - 5.2

Kazakhstan - 2.98

Belarus - 0.69

Dr. republics of the former USSR - 2.73

Non-CIS countries - 3.5

Compared to 1990, when there were 120.4 million (81.5%) Russians in Russia, by September 2022 there were 11.1 million fewer of them. Thus, for the period 1990-2002, the death rate exceeded the birth rate in the Russian regions by 8.71 million people, the migration gain was 4.69 million. The total loss as a result was 4.02 million people. This is close to the decline of the Russian population in Russia between 1990 and the 2002 census, which amounted to 4.5 million people.

Between the 2002 and 2010 censuses Russians became less by 4.87 million people. This roughly coincides with the natural decline in the population of Russian regions (4.92 million people).

Since migration was similar in ten years, it can be assumed that in the period from 2010 to 2022, the decline in Russians also coincides with the decline in the population of Russian regions. It amounted to 3.89 million people.

The population is dying relatively more than it could, due to aging, poor quality of life, problems with access to quality prevention and treatment of diseases, as well as lifestyle (stress, bad habits).

Few children are born also due to a complex of reasons, the main of which is the low level of income. In addition, the imposed consumer behavior patterns and the demographic hole of the 90s have a negative effect - then, due to the decline in the birth rate, few children were born who now have the time to become parents.

Thus, the main and all-encompassing reason for the extinction of Russians was and remains the low standard of living and the inequality that caused it. The Russian people grew when they could work and create for the sake of future generations. Conditions when 1% of the population seized 59% of the national wealth, and the majority of the population is forced to serve the interests of this 1% and conserve in poverty for the sake of simple survival, do not allow us to look to the future with optimism.

If the extinction of the Russian people is not stopped, in Russia it will be less than 100 million by 2043, follows from the UN average forecast. And by 2065, Russians will be less than 1% of the world's population, or 3 times less than under the USSR.