Population density of Russia: by regions and federal districts
The population density of Russia at the beginning of 2024 is 8.5 people per square kilometre. This is how Rosstat calculates it: on 1 January the country was home to 146.15 million people, and the area according to Rosreestr is 17,125.2 thousand square kilometres. But this average tells little about life in a specific place. In Moscow there are 5,134.6 people per square kilometre, in Chukotka 0.07, i.e. one resident per 15 square kilometres. Below we examine how federal districts and regions differ, where the number of people has fallen in recent years and why the eastern part of the country has so few roads. Each chart has an interactive version on the website.
How Rosstat calculates population density
The formula is simple: the permanent population on 1 January is divided by the territory area. Rosstat takes the area from Rosreestr, the population from its own estimate. The data are presented without the Donetsk, Luhansk, Zaporizhzhia and Kherson regions, as noted in the footnote to the table.
The latest table was published in the bulletin on population size and migration for 2023 and shows density at the start of 2024. In the 2020 bulletin, with density at the start of 2021, the national average was almost the same: 8.54 versus 8.53. Over three years the overall picture has not changed, but within it people have moved noticeably, as described below.
Note one nuance with composite subjects. Tyumen Oblast together with the Khanty-Mansi and Yamalo-Nenets districts has a density of 2.66 people per square kilometre, and without them 10.09. Arkhangelsk Oblast with the Nenets district has 1.69, without it 2.31. In the ranking Rosstat lists oblasts without districts, while the districts themselves appear as separate rows.
Area, share of territory and density for all subjects →
Population density by federal districts
The difference between districts is more than fiftyfold. The highest density is in the Central district, 61.8 people per square kilometre, almost the same in the North Caucasus (60.1). The lowest is in the Far Eastern: 1.13.
Compare the share of territory with the share of residents:
| District | Share of territory | Share of population | Density, people/sq. km |
|---|---|---|---|
| Central | 3.8% | 27.5% | 61.8 |
| North Caucasus | 1.0% | 7.0% | 60.1 |
| Southern | 2.6% | 11.4% | 37.1 |
| Volga | 6.1% | 19.5% | 27.5 |
| Northwestern | 9.9% | 9.5% | 8.2 |
| Ural | 10.6% | 8.4% | 6.7 |
| Siberian | 25.5% | 11.3% | 3.8 |
| Far Eastern | 40.6% | 5.4% | 1.13 |
The share of population is based on the estimate as of 1 January 2024. The Ural, Siberian and Far Eastern districts together cover 76.7% of the country's territory, while they are home to 25.1% of the population. The Far East alone accounts for 40.6% of Russia's area, but it has fewer residents than Moscow and its suburbs.
From 2021 to 2024 the density increased in the Central district (from 60.4 to 61.8), in the North Caucasus (from 58.5 to 60.1) and in the Southern district (from 36.8 to 37.1). In the Volga district it fell from 28.0 to 27.5, in Siberia from 3.90 to 3.80, and in the Far East from 1.17 to 1.13.
Most densely populated regions
The top three places are occupied by federal cities: they have a small area and millions of residents.
| Place | Subject | People per sq. km |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Moscow | 5,134.6 |
| 2 | Saint Petersburg | 4,001.3 |
| 3 | Sevastopol | 649.7 |
| 4 | Moscow Oblast | 195.2 |
| 5 | Ingushetia | 169.9 |
| 6 | Chechnya | 96.0 |
| 7 | North Ossetia | 85.0 |
| 8 | Krasnodar Krai | 77.3 |
| 9 | Crimea | 73.2 |
| 10 | Kabardino-Balkaria | 72.6 |
Moscow occupies 0.015% of the country's area, yet 9% of the population lives there. Among the regions that are not cities, the Moscow region and the North Caucasus republics lead with their small area.
If you line up all 85 subjects from the most dense to the least, half of the country's population is already gathered in the first 26. They cover about 5% of the territory. Densities above the Russian average are found in 61 of the 85 subjects, concentrating about 87% of the residents on 22% of the area.
Least populated regions
At the opposite end of the list are the North and the Far East. Fewer than one person per square kilometer live in six subjects: in Chukotka (0.07), the Nenets Autonomous Okrug (0.24), Magadan Oblast (0.29), Yakutia (0.32), Kamchatka (0.62) and the Yamalo-Nenets Autonomous Okrug (0.67).
These six subjects together occupy a third of the country, 33.2% of the territory. They are home to 2,030,211 people, which is 1.4% of the population. Yakutia spans 3,083.5 thousand square kilometers, almost five times larger than the Central district, and has just over a million inhabitants.
In the North, people live in a few towns and settlements, with hundreds of kilometers of tundra and taiga between them. The average for such a region speaks more about the cost of living than about crowding: food and fuel are brought from afar. How this reflects on the subsistence minimum can be seen in the regional rating: the same subjects top the list.
Where density rises and where it falls
Let’s compare two issues of the bulletin, at the beginning of 2021 and at the beginning of 2024. The fastest density growth occurred around the two capitals: in Moscow Oblast from 173.9 to 195.2 people per square kilometre (up 12%), in Leningrad Oblast from 22.6 to 24.3 (up 8%). Also added were Adygea (from 59.4 to 64.2) and Kaluga Oblast (from 33.6 to 35.9).
The sharpest density decline was in the Northwest and in the old‑industrial regions of the centre:
- Karelia: from 3.37 to 2.90 (minus 14%);
- Komi: from 1.95 to 1.73 (minus 11%);
- Murmansk Oblast: from 5.06 to 4.53 (minus 10%);
- Kostroma Oblast: from 10.44 to 9.40 (minus 10%);
- Kirov Oblast: from 10.39 to 9.39 (minus 10%).
A caveat is needed here. In these three years the results of the 2020 census were incorporated, and Rosstat recalculated the population of the regions based on them. Therefore part of the changes came from the recalculation, not from migration. This is especially visible for Ingushetia: density there rose from 142.1 to 169.9, up 20%, which cannot be explained by natural increase alone over three years.
How the population changed year by year can be seen in the summary population of Russia by year. A detailed analysis of growth and decline by region is available in the article "Population of Russia by year".
Road density: continuation of the same map
Where there are few people, there are few roads. Rosstat publishes the density of public roads with a hard surface: how many kilometres per thousand square kilometres of territory. For Russia in 2024 this is 66.0 km, in 2012 it was 54.1.
By districts the pattern is the same as population density. In the North Caucasus it is 441.4 km per thousand square kilometres, in the Central 389.6, in the Far Eastern 12.6. Among subjects the most roads are in Moscow (2,559) and St. Petersburg (2,555.4), the least in Chukotka (1.3) and the Nenets Autonomous Okrug (1.9). Between Moscow and Chukotka the difference is almost two thousand times.
Road density by all regions since 2010 →
Questions and Answers
What is the population density in Russia?
8.5 people per square kilometre at the beginning of 2024 according to Rosstat. Population 146.15 million people, area 17,125.2 thousand square kilometres, without four new regions.
Where is the highest population density in Russia?
In Moscow: 5,134.6 people per square kilometre. Next Saint Petersburg (4,001.3) and Sevastopol (649.7). Among the other subjects, Moscow region leads (195.2) and Ingushetia (169.9).
Where is the lowest population density?
In Chukotka, 0.07 people per square kilometre. Not much more in the Nenets Autonomous Okrug (0.24), Magadan region (0.29) and Yakutia (0.32).
Which federal district is the most populous?
Central, 61.8 people per square kilometre. North Caucasus almost equal, 60.1. The least populous district is Far Eastern, 1.13.
Why is the population density in Russia so low?
More than three quarters of the territory belongs to the Urals, Siberia and the Far East, where a quarter of the population lives. The vast spaces of the North are sparsely settled. In the European part, especially in the centre and the south, density is many times higher than the average.
Is Russia's population density increasing?
Overall almost not: at the beginning of 2021 it was 8.54 people per square kilometre, at the beginning of 2024 it was 8.53. At the same time the centre and the south become denser, while the North, Siberia and the Far East lose residents.
In Brief
- Russia's population density 8.5 people per square kilometre at the beginning of 2024.
- The gap between Moscow (5,134.6) and Chukotka (0.07) is more than 70 thousand times.
- The Urals, Siberia and the Far East occupy 76.7% of the territory, but 25.1% of people live there.
- Half of the country's population lives in the 26 most densely populated subjects, covering 5% of the territory.
- The fastest densifying areas are the Moscow region and Leningrad region, while the greatest loss of residents occurs in Karelia, Komi and Murmansk region.