Population of Yaroslavl and the Yaroslavl Region: Rosstat data by year
As of January 1, 2024, 567,443 people lived in Yaroslavl. This is the latest published estimate by Rosstat for the city; data for January 1, 2025, and 2026 are not yet available on the website. Yaroslavl is 27th in Russia by number of residents and third in the Central District after Moscow and Voronezh. Since the 2002 census, the city has decreased by 46 thousand people. In the Yaroslavl Region, as of January 1, 2025, Rosstat counted 1,180,174 people; during 2024, the region lost 7,384 residents.
Below is the population of Yaroslavl by censuses and years, its rank among cities, Rybinsk and neighboring regional centers, the population of the region since 2012, where the decline comes from, and who lives in the region according to the census. All charts open on the website in an interactive format.
How many people live in Yaroslavl
The census is marked in the row, the rest are Rosstat estimates as of January 1.
| Date | Thousand people |
|---|---|
| 2002 Census | 613 |
| 2010 Census | 591 |
| 2020 Census (conducted in autumn 2021) | 577 |
| January 1, 2022 | 594 |
| January 1, 2023 | 571 |
| January 1, 2024 | 567 |
The city is shrinking from census to census: in the eight years between 2002 and 2010, it lost 22 thousand residents, and another 14 thousand in the following eleven years. From 2002 to 2024, there was a decrease of 7.5%. Almost half of the region's residents, 47.8%, live in Yaroslavl.
View the population of all Russian cities with 100 thousand residents or more →
Where the 2022 spike came from
As of January 1, 2022, the yearbook shows 594 thousand, which is 17 thousand more than the census counted a few months prior. The city did not grow that much over the winter. At that time, the estimate was still based on the 2010 census, and over ten years it had diverged from reality. The census revealed this discrepancy, the calculation was corrected, and as of January 1, 2023, the figure came out to 571 thousand. The 2022 figure cannot be compared with neighboring years. A similar jump that year can be seen in Ivanovo and Kostroma.
What place does Yaroslavl occupy among the cities of Russia
In the Rosstat bulletin as of January 1, 2024, there are 16 cities with a population of over a million, and in the group from 500 thousand to a million, Yaroslavl is eleventh. In the general list, this is 27th place.
| Rank | City | People as of January 1, 2024 |
|---|---|---|
| 25 | Irkutsk | 606,369 |
| 26 | Vladivostok | 591,628 |
| 27 | Yaroslavl | 567,443 |
| 28 | Sevastopol | 561,374 |
| 29 | Stavropol | 557,271 |
The gap to Vladivostok is 24,185 people, and Sevastopol is behind by 6,069. The distance is shrinking: Sevastopol grew during 2023, its average annual population was 559,824, and it became larger by the end of the year. For Yaroslavl, it is the opposite: 569,134 on average for the year and 567,443 by January 1.
In 2002, Yaroslavl was larger than Vladivostok, Irkutsk, and Tyumen. Vladivostok has hardly changed since then, Irkutsk added 12 thousand, and Tyumen grew from 511 to 861 thousand and moved far ahead.
Open the table of cities with 500 thousand to a million residents →
The full list of the largest cities is analyzed in the article "The largest cities of Russia by population".
Rybinsk and neighboring regional centers
The second city of the region, Rybinsk, had 171,810 residents as of January 1, 2024. Together with Yaroslavl, this is 739 thousand people, 62% of the region's population. Among the cities in the table below, Rybinsk is losing people the fastest: 223 thousand in 2002, 201 thousand in 2010, 172 thousand now. Over 22 years, a decrease of 22.9%, almost every fourth resident.
Neighbors along the Upper Volga are changing in different ways. Vladimir, Vologda, and Tver have grown since 2002, Kostroma and Cherepovets have decreased slightly, and Ivanovo has lost 74 thousand residents.
| City | 2002, thousand | January 1, 2024, thousand | Change |
|---|---|---|---|
| Yaroslavl | 613 | 567 | −7.5% |
| Tver | 409 | 413 | +1.0% |
| Ivanovo | 432 | 358 | −17.1% |
| Vladimir | 316 | 344 | +8.9% |
| Vologda | 293 | 312 | +6.5% |
| Kostroma | 279 | 266 | −4.7% |
| Rybinsk | 223 | 172 | −22.9% |
Cities of Russia with 100 to 250 thousand residents, including Rybinsk →
Population of the Yaroslavl Region by year
Population as of January 1, thousand people.
| Year | Thousand people |
|---|---|
| 2012 | 1,269.1 |
| 2015 | 1,263.8 |
| 2017 | 1,258.9 |
| 2019 | 1,243.8 |
| 2021 | 1,221.7 |
| 2022 | 1,205.6 |
| 2023 | 1,194.6 |
| 2024 | 1,187.6 |
| 2025 | 1,180.2 |
For five years, from 2012 to 2017, the region lost two thousand people per year. Then the decline accelerated: from 2017 to 2025, a decrease of 78.7 thousand. In total, since 2012, the region has become smaller by 88.9 thousand people, or by 7%.
In the Central Federal District, the Yaroslavl Region ranks eighth in population. The neighboring Tver Region was larger by 73 thousand in 2012, but it lost residents faster, and as of January 1, 2025, the difference is only 10,400 people. The Vologda Region is smaller than the Yaroslavl Region by 65 thousand.
The population is aging. At the beginning of 2024, there were 310.1 thousand people above working age in the region, which is 26.1% of residents. Across Russia, their share is 23.7%, and in the Central Federal District, it is 25.6%.
Population of all regions since 2012 →
Why the population of the Yaroslavl Region is shrinking
In 2024, the number of deaths in the region exceeded the number of births by 9,798. Migration brought in 2,414 people, approximately a quarter of the natural population decline. The total result for the year is a loss of 7,384 residents, or 0.62%.
By Central Russian standards, this is not much. Among the regions of the district, only the Kaluga Region (minus 0.17%) and the Voronezh Region (minus 0.59%) are losing population more slowly, while Moscow and the Moscow Region are growing. The Belgorod Region saw the fastest decline, at 1.24%. The Tver Region is at minus 0.76%, and the Kostroma Region is at minus 0.96%.
Within the region, newcomers are choosing rural areas. Cities gained only 212 people from migration and lost 7,438 residents over the year. Rural areas gained 2,202 people, which was enough to offset their own natural decline: the rural population even increased by 54 people. As of January 1, 2025, 80.7% of the region's residents live in cities.
Population size and components of its change for 2024 →
Birth and death rates
In 2023, 9,030 children were born in the region and 17,776 people died: almost two deaths for every birth. Per thousand residents, this is 7.6 births and 14.9 deaths, a decline of 7.3. For Russia, it is 8.6 and 12.1, a decline of 3.5. For the Central District, it is 8.0 and 12.0, a decline of 4.0. The natural decline in the region is twice as high as the national average.
In January–February 2025, the mortality rate in the region decreased to 16.0 per thousand from 18.2 a year earlier, while the birth rate remained almost unchanged: 7.0 versus 7.1. The decline narrowed from 11.1 to 9.0 per thousand; for Russia, the figure for the same months was 5.0.
Birth and death rates by region for January–February 2025 →
Causes of death in the Yaroslavl Region
In 2023, there were 1,492.4 deaths per 100,000 residents in the region. For Russia, it was 1,206.2, and for the Central District, 1,204.9. The overall mortality rate is 23.7% higher than the national average. This is a characteristic of the entire Upper Volga region: the Tver Region is at 1,625, the Ivanovo Region at 1,607, and the Vladimir and Kostroma regions at 1,550 each.
The region differs most significantly in diseases of the digestive system: 107.1 deaths per 100,000 versus 74.0 for Russia, which is 45% higher. Deaths from neoplasms are 23% more frequent, and deaths from road traffic accidents are 32% more frequent. Conversely, deaths from infectious diseases are more than twice as rare as the national average: 8.0 versus 18.4 per 100,000. Deaths from tuberculosis are 20% less frequent.
How mortality is distributed across the country is analyzed in the article "Mortality by Russian regions". The average life expectancy in the region can be seen on the page on life expectancy in the Yaroslavl Region.
Mortality by main causes in each region →
Who lives in the Yaroslavl Region: 2020 Census
The 2020 Census counted 1,209,811 people in the region: 666,733 women and 543,078 men, with 1,228 women per thousand men. 81.1% of the population lived in cities.
178,525 people, or 14.8% of residents, did not specify their ethnicity, and 95% of them are urban residents. The shares below are calculated based on the 1,031,286 people who did specify it.
| Ethnicity | People | Share |
|---|---|---|
| Russians | 995,413 | 96.5% |
| Armenians | 6,114 | 0.6% |
| Ukrainians | 4,127 | 0.4% |
| Azerbaijanis | 3,476 | 0.3% |
| Tatars | 2,658 | 0.3% |
| Tajiks | 2,547 | 0.2% |
| Yazidis | 1,828 | 0.2% |
| Uzbeks | 1,615 | 0.2% |
| Belarusians | 1,236 | 0.1% |
The region is almost mono-ethnic: 96.5% of those who specified their ethnicity are Russian. The largest of the other communities is the Armenian one, and Armenians live in rural areas more often than Russians: 27% versus 21%.
Ethnic composition of the Yaroslavl Region according to the census →
Questions and answers
How many people live in Yaroslavl in 2026?
The latest published estimate refers to January 1, 2024: 567,443 people. There is no data for cities for later dates on the website yet.
What place does Yaroslavl occupy in terms of population?
27th in Russia as of January 1, 2024, between Vladivostok and Sevastopol. In the Central Federal District, Yaroslavl is third after Moscow and Voronezh, ahead of Balashikha (530,311 people) and Ryazan (520,509).
How many people live in Rybinsk?
171,810 people as of January 1, 2024. Since 2002, the city has lost 51 thousand residents.
How many people live in the Yaroslavl Region?
As of January 1, 2025, 1,180,174 people. This is the eighth most populous region in the Central District.
In brief
- As of January 1, 2024, 567,443 people lived in Yaroslavl, ranking 27th in Russia and third in the Central District.
- Since the 2002 census, the city has become smaller by 46 thousand people, or by 7.5%. Over the same period, Rybinsk lost almost a quarter of its residents.
- The region has been shrinking since 2012, and faster after 2017: a total of minus 88.9 thousand people.
- In 2024, the natural population decline was 9,798 people, with migration offsetting about a quarter of that. New arrivals are moving to rural areas rather than cities.
- Mortality in the region is 23.7% higher than the Russian average, deaths from digestive diseases are 45% higher, and deaths from infections are more than twice as low.