Rosstat statistics on the population will only be available to government experts<\/h5>\n\n\n\n
By Edward Slavsquat<\/p>\n\n\n\n Russia\u2019s Federal State Statistics Service (Rosstat) has stopped publishing data that it collects on the country\u2019s demographic situation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Information about birth rates, death rates, population, migration, and marriages and divorces was absent from Rosstat\u2019s latest report on socio-economic indicators.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cIn the Review of the Socio-Economic Situation of the Russian Federation<\/a> published [on July 2], the Demography section is simply missing. This data is also missing in the corresponding section<\/a> on the Rosstat website, where the last update ended in March,\u201d wrote<\/a> MMI, a Russian macroeconomics Telegram channel with over 100,000 subscribers. \u201cWe have been completely deprived of information about the number of people in the country, how many are born, how many die.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Only government agencies and authorized experts<\/a> will have access to this once publicly available information. The policy change was criticized as counter-productive by State Duma Deputy Sergei Mironov.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Mironov, who heads the Just Russia\u2014For Truth party, released a statement<\/a> on July 16 calling on Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin to resume publication of demographic indicators:<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cSince March, Rosstat has stopped publishing this data, and the \u201cDemography\u201d section has simply disappeared from the agency\u2019s report on the socio-economic situation in the country for January-May of this year. Information is also not disclosed upon request,” explained Sergei Mironov. \u201cAt the same time, most regions have followed suit and also stopped publishing data on demography and migration. Unfortunately, all of this is permitted by current regulations. But the issue is not legality, but the fact that closing the data does not solve the most pressing problems. On the contrary, it hinders their understanding and solution.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n As stated in the appeal, \u201cthe absence of regular and open official statistics on demography… leads to the undermining of citizens\u2019 trust in government institutions.\u201d It also \u201cdamages… forecasting and development of effective demographic policy measures.\u201d In addition, \u201cconcealment of data… contributes to the aggravation of intra-state tensions, which grow proportionally to the increase in the number of migrants in the country.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cClosing the statistics does not make people have fewer questions, especially since the problems are already visible to the naked eye,\u201d said Sergei Mironov. \u201cLet me remind you that last year – this data is still open – the natural population decline reached almost 600 thousand people. And almost as much – 586.5 thousand – was the record increase in migrants. People see that there are more and more newcomers, and fewer and fewer [Russians]. We need to solve problems, and not arrange an \u2018information blackout\u2019! The principle of \u2018the less you know, the better you sleep\u2019 will not work here. Therefore, in my address to the head of the Government, I ask to declassify demographic statistics. Resume the publication of Rosstat data on birth rates, mortality and migration, and also restore the \u2018Demography\u2019 section in the agency\u2019s regular reports.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n The decision to classify demographic data will also make it difficult to independently assess the effectiveness of recent measures aimed at reversing Russia\u2019s demographic crisis<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n In November 2023, Russian President Vladimir Putin signed<\/a> a decree on \u201cpopularizing state policy in the field of family protection and preservation of traditional family values\u201d, and declared 2024 the \u201cYear of the Family\u201d<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Putin appointed Deputy Prime Minister Tatyana Golikova, who has no children of her own, to spearhead the initiative. In Russia, Golikova is known as \u201cMadame Arbidol\u201d for enriching herself and her friends<\/a> by peddling unproven drugs during the swine flu \u201cpandemic\u201d and later COVID.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The Year of the Family turned out to be a year of anti-records<\/a> for demography in Russia.<\/p>\n\n\n\n In 2024, Golikova was also tasked<\/a> with increasing Russia\u2019s total fertility rate (the average number of births per woman) to 1.6 by 2030. This benchmark is not only below the replacement level for a population (a TFR of 2.1), but is also lower than the goal of a 1.7 TFR, set in 2018, that was supposed to be achieved last year.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Russia\u2019s current TFR is 1.4<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n![\"\"\/](\"https:\/\/substackcdn.com\/image\/fetch\/$s_!e0P6!,w_1456,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep\/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F2827a183-c8f7-4207-b8e8-f28a3433368e_2000x1334.jpeg\")
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