Shrinking Population

The Russian Statistics Agency has disclosed that the Russian population is decreasing. There has been a steady decline in the Russian population since the fall of the Soviet Union in 1991. This year, the population is down 506,400.

Increased poverty, alcoholism, emigration, and degredation of the health care system are blamed for reducing birth rates and life expectancy.

The population now stands at 143 million people. The United Nations Development Program has released a report this week. In that report, demographers have predicted that the population will fall to 100 million by 2050 and suggested that it may fall as far as 80 million.