Russia has edged away from the brink of a potentially irreversibe and catastrophic demographic crisis, Prime Minister and President-elect Vladimir Putin said on Wednesday.
“More and more Russian families go for the birth of a second or a third child. Over the last five years the number of second births increased by 45 percent, while the number of third and following births increased by 62 percent,” said Putin during a report to the State Duma, his last annual address to parliament before his inuguration as president in May.
Putin also said the 2008 global financial crisis had no impact on Russia’s demographic situation, which has risen to over 143 million people by the end of 2011.
He also said seven million children had been born in Russia between 2008-2011, a figure he described as one of the highest in recent decades.
The issue of the demographic crisis in Russia was first raised by Putin in 2006. He described it as the most serious problem facing the country and proposed radical measures to deal with it.
During his pre-election campaign two months ago, Putin once again raised concerns about the problem, calling for a long-term demographic development program. He said, citing experts, that if no new program was adopted, the population could shrink 34 percent to 107 million by 2050.
