Russia has begun to restrict access to data relating to demographic statistics in a sign that they are likely to reveal a deteriorating population situation.
https://www.kyivpost.com/post/56084
The Federal State Statistics Service (Rosstat) has stopped publishing data on the demographic situation in Russia.
May’s statistics were published in July. But, according to sources from Kyiv Post, from now on statistics on mortality, birth rates, the number of marriages and divorces, as well as data on migration in Russia, will be provided under signature and not disclosed. Kyiv Post decided to investigate.
Population decline
The closure on data release was first noted by demographer and sociologist Alexei Raksha – a former employee of Russia’s Federal State Statistics Service (Rosstat). Raksha began to voice concerns about the worsening demographic situation on social media, shortly after which he was declared a “foreign agent” and deprived of the ability to lecture, teach, and publish books and academic articles......
But even including artificially inflated figures for the occupied territories, the overall statistics across Russia remain extremely grim.
2024 saw a record decline in Russia’s population. A 3.5% increase in mortality combined with a drop in birth rates led to record demographic losses – there were 600,000 more deaths than births – a 20% increase on 2023......
These figures echo those of Russian outlet Mediazona, which identified more than 120,000 Russian soldiers killed in Ukraine based on open-source information: obituaries, social media posts, official bulletins, etc. Mediazona suggested that the real number is significantly higher, as many bodies are unidentifiable, many have not been recovered, and the media do not report many funerals (especially of convicts).
US Secretary Marco Rubio said July 10 that Russia lost 100,000 dead just in the last six months.
“This is an attempt to hide loss data that is not published openly, but can be inferred from demographic statistics. The Kremlin has a direct interest in this. They didn’t notice it at first, but such data reveals not only losses, but also the country’s military potential,” Russian sociologist and journalist Igor Yakovenko said.
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