Population of Russia by year: full statistics and charts
As of 1 January 2025, 146,119,928 people lived in Russia. A year earlier it was 146,150,789, i.e. in 2024 the country lost 30,861 people. The peak was on 1 January 2020: 147.96 million. Since then the population has declined for five consecutive dates, but the rate of decline has slowed: from half a million people per year to thirty thousand. Rosstat data.
Below is the full series since 2000, an analysis of what makes up the change, regions that are growing and those losing people, and interactive charts.
Population of Russia by year
Estimated permanent population on 1 January, thousand people.
| On 1 January | Population | Change from previous date |
|---|---|---|
| 2000 | 146,890.1 | |
| 2005 | 143,801.0 | |
| 2010 | 142,833.5 | |
| 2011 | 142,865.4 | +31.9 |
| 2012 | 143,171.0 | +305.6 |
| 2013 | 143,585.9 | +414.9 |
| 2014 | 144,025.3 | +439.4 |
| 2015 | 146,744.0 | +2,718.7 |
| 2016 | 147,182.3 | +438.3 |
| 2017 | 147,580.0 | +397.7 |
| 2018 | 147,797.1 | +217.1 |
| 2019 | 147,840.7 | +43.6 |
| 2020 | 147,959.3 | +118.6 |
| 2021 | 147,455.7 | −503.6 |
| 2022 | 146,980.1 | −475.6 |
| 2023 | 146,447.4 | −532.7 |
The jump in 2015 is explained not by demographics but by borders: the estimate included the population of Crimea. Without it, the 2014–2015 series would have looked like a normal increase of a few hundred thousand.
The shape of the curve splits into three parts. Between 2000 and 2010 the population decreased by 4.06 million people. From 2010 to 2020 it grew every year without exception, and this is the only long period of growth in the series. After 2020 the series turns downwards, and for three consecutive dates the decline stays around half a million people. The full set for all regions is available in the interactive dataset.
What makes up the change
The population changes for two reasons at once: natural movement (births minus deaths) and migration (arrivals minus departures). For 2024 Rosstat broke down the change as follows:
- natural decline: −599,454 people
- migration gain: +568,593 people
- total result: −30,861 people
Migration offset 95% of the natural decline. This does not always happen: in 2020 the population fell by 503.6 thousand people, and inflows were not enough to compensate. The breakdown for each region is in the dataset with change components.
From this follows a practical takeaway for reading news: the phrase “the population decreased by 30 thousand” and the phrase “600 thousand more people died than were born” describe the same year. The first talks about the total, the second about one of its two components.
Which regions are growing and which are losing people
In 2024 the biggest growers were:
| Region | Annual gain | Including migration |
|---|---|---|
| Moscow | +124,482 | +119,709 |
| Moscow Oblast | +124,475 | +149,892 |
| Saint Petersburg | +55,159 | +70,464 |
| Tyumen Oblast | +40,896 | +30,130 |
| Republic of Dagestan | +27,666 | −306 |
Dagestan stands out: it is the only one in the top five that grows thanks to natural increase, not migration. Natural increase there is +27,972 people with a small migration outflow. In Moscow Oblast the picture is opposite: natural decline of −25,417, but an inflow of +149,892 more than offsets it sixfold.
The biggest losers were Bashkortostan (−21,984), Nizhny Novgorod Oblast (−20,914), Kemerovo Oblast (−20,465), Volgograd Oblast (−19,852) and Belgorod Oblast (−18,634).
When looking at districts, the shift is clearer than when looking at regions. The Central District grew from 38.2 to 40.2 million people in 2000–2023, the Southern from 14.1 to 16.6 million. The Volga District shrank from 31.7 to 28.7 million in the same period, the Siberian from 18.3 to 16.6 million, and the Far Eastern from 9.1 to 7.9 million. The country is not so much shrinking as shifting westward and southward.
City and countryside
Urban population on 1 January 2023: 109,655.5 thousand people, or 74.9% of all residents. In 2000 it was 107,419.5 thousand, i.e. 73.1%.
The share of city dwellers over twenty‑three years grew by less than two percentage points. Urbanisation in Russia essentially finished by the early 2000s: the redistribution is no longer between city and countryside, but between regions and within the urban network, from small towns to large ones. Rural population over the same period fell from 39.5 to 36.8 million people, while the urban population peaked in 2020 (110.5 million) and also began to decline.
Questions and answers
How many people live in Russia now?
146,119,928 people on 1 January 2025 according to Rosstat. The figure for 1 January of the following year is published in spring; until then only monthly estimates are available.
When was Russia’s population at its maximum?
In Rosstat’s available series since 2000 the maximum falls on 1 January 2020: 147,959.3 thousand people. Earlier 1990s values are in separate sets of the demographic section.
Why do different sources give different numbers?
Because of the date and the boundaries. Some estimates are for 1 January, others are annual averages (for 2024 this is 146,135,359 people). Series before and after 2014 differ by the population of Crimea. Re‑calculation after the 2021 census also shifted some values.
What is natural decline?
The difference between the number of deaths and the number of births over a period. For 2024 it amounted to 599,454 people. See more in the articles "Births in Russia by year" and "Deaths in Russia by year".
Does migration compensate for population decline?
In 2024 it almost did: 568.6 thousand arrivals versus 599.5 thousand natural decline. In some years the gap was multiple times larger, and then the population fell by half a million in a year.
Briefly
The population of Russia on 1 January 2025: 146.12 million people. The 21st‑century peak was reached in 2020 (147.96 million), after which the number declines, but the rate of decline slowed from 500 thousand to 31 thousand people per year thanks to migration inflow. Within the country the shift to the west and south continues: the Central and Southern districts are gaining, while the Volga, Siberian and Far Eastern districts are losing. The share of urban residents has stalled at about 75% and has hardly grown since the early 2000s.