Demographers predicted a sharp decline in the population of Russia

If the current demographic trends in the country continue, then the population of Russia will drop to 125 million by 2050. Such data follow from the forecasts of the federal project on the demographic situation. As of January 1, 2020, according to Rosstat, the country's population was 146.7 million.

“Among the factors influencing the negative dynamics, experts point out alcohol, tobacco and drugs, from the consumption of which more than a million citizens die every year”, - RIA Novosti reports.

As the researchers clarify, the Sober Russia organization, the existing “aggressive environment of competition between countries, which has in its arsenal not only armed conflicts, sanctions policy, color revolutions, but also alcohol, drugs and other instruments of hybrid wars, is today supplemented by the coronavirus infection COVID-19".

The researchers note that the economic losses of society and the state from the consequences associated with bad habits, namely: alcoholism, drug addiction and tobacco smoking, amount to 12 percent of the country's GDP per year. In monetary terms, the harm is expressed in an amount exceeding 13 trillion rubles per year. According to experts, more than one million people die in Russia every year from the effects of alcohol, drugs and tobacco use.

Now the situation is slightly better than in the 1990s, when about 1.6 million people died from these factors. However, statistics indicate that in 35 years due to the influence of drugs, tobacco and alcohol, the country has lost more than 30 million lives. According to experts, the use of psychoactive substances, alcohol and tobacco "forms negative reproductive attitudes, leads to postponement of births, childfree subculture and termination of pregnancies".

Earlier it became known that more than 76 million Russian citizens of working age (85% of the working population) consume alcoholic beverages. Moreover, 70% of deaths of citizens of working age are directly or indirectly related to alcohol abuse. This year, "Sober Russia" proposed to ban the sale of alcoholic beverages during the New Year holidays on January 1 and 2. The proposal was sent to the head of the Ministry of Industry and Trade Denis Manturov.