Births of boys and girls in Russia by year: how many are born and what is the sex ratio

2026-10-27 · Demography

In 2022, 670,177 boys and 633,910 girls were born in Russia, i.e., 1,057 boys per thousand girls. Boys accounted for 51.4% of all newborns. The excess of 36 thousand people persists year after year: from 1960 to 2022 the ratio never left the range 1,047-1,066. Below, based on Rosstat data, we examine how the number of births of each sex changed, whether it is the same in cities and rural areas, why boys are more often lost in the first year of life and how the birth excess turns into a female excess among adults. Each section has an interactive chart, full tables are available on the website.

How many boys and girls are born in Russia

In 2022, the latest year for which Rosstat published a breakdown in the Demographic Yearbook, 1,304,087 newborns were registered. This translates to about 1,836 boys and 1,737 girls per day.

Over 62 years the number of births has fallen by almost half, and the decline is almost identical for both sexes: the number of boys decreased by 53.0% (from 1,427,225 in 1960 to 670,177 in 2022), and girls by 53.2% (from 1,355,128 to 633,910). The overall picture of fertility, with its peaks and troughs, is examined in the article "Births in Russia by year". What matters here is something else: whatever happens to the total number of infants, the shares of the two sexes hardly change.

A more recent table "How the composition and movement of the population changed over the years" shows the latest years. In thousands of people:

In 2023, 1,265 thousand children were born: 652 thousand boys and 613 thousand girls. The breakdown for 2024 has not yet been published in this table.

Both lines, after the 2014 peak (999.7 thousand boys and 943.0 thousand girls), descend together, and the gap between them narrows only because the whole base is shrinking. Comparing 2022 with 2014, the total number of births fell by 32.9%: from 1,942,683 to 1,304,087. We examined the dynamics and causes in more detail in the piece "Total fertility rate in Russia".

Table with history since 1960: "Statistics on births, deaths and natural population increase".

Ratio of sexes at birth by year

Demographers express it as the number of boys per 1,000 girls. Here is a sample of years:

The minimum for the whole series, 1047, occurred in 1980, the maximum, 1066, in 2018. A spread of nineteen points per thousand means a difference of less than two percent. In the 1990s, when births fell faster than ever, the ratio stayed the same: 1055 in 1990 and 1055 in 1995. Neither economic crises nor demographic setbacks affect it.

Note the scale: it is stretched so the line is visible. In fact all 23 years fit into a narrow corridor from 1057 to 1066. The 2018 peak is not linked to anything special, and already in 2019 the indicator returned to 1060. For demographers these are normal random fluctuations: with 1.2-1.5 million births per year they fall within a fraction of a percent.

Statistics do not explain why more boys are born. The mechanism is not discussed here. The only conclusion from the tables is that the male surplus at birth in Russia is stable, modest, and does not depend on the economy.

City and countryside: where the ratio differs

Rosstat publishes births separately for urban and rural settlements. In 2022:

• in cities 504,207 boys and 476,509 girls were born, 1058 per 1,000;
• in the countryside 165,970 boys and 157,401 girls, 1054 per 1,000.

The difference is four points, against an overall split of 1057. For practical conclusions it is too small. More noticeable is another fact: in cities 75.2% of all children are born (980,716 of 1,304,087), in the countryside 24.8% (323,371). In 1960 the countryside contributed 1,449,541 of 2,782,353, i.e., 52.1%, more than half. The shift occurred over decades of urbanisation and the decline of the rural population. We wrote about it in the article "Rural population of Russia by year".

Boys die more often in the first year of life

If more boys are born, they are lost more often in the first year of life. Rosstat counts deaths before age one separately for each sex, and we divided them by the number of births of the same sex. In 2022:

• for every 1,000 boys born, 4.99 infants died before age one;
• for every 1,000 girls born, 3.99.

In absolute numbers this is 3,346 boys and 2,530 girls. The gap consistently stays at about a quarter: in 2000 the figures were 17.22 and 13.10 (a difference of 1.31 times), in 2022 they were 4.99 and 3.99 (1.25 times). At the same time, overall infant mortality in Russia over the twenty‑two years fell by more than threefold for both sexes.

The jump in 2012 (9.42 for boys versus 8.20 the year before) is not due to worsening medicine: since 2012 Russia switched to international live‑birth criteria, and newborns with very low weight started to be included in the statistics. More about the indicator in the article "Infant mortality in Russia".

How the male surplus turns into a female surplus

Look at the total population on 1 January 2024: 78,234 thousand women, 67,917 thousand men, a difference of 10.3 million people. There are 1,152 women per 1,000 men. In 2010 it was 1,164.

The reason is mortality. In 2023, 910 thousand men and 855 thousand women died, even though women in the country are 15 % more numerous. The exception was 2021: that year 1,279 thousand women and 1,163 thousand men died, an effect of the pandemic. Life expectancy of men and women, the main cause of the imbalance, is discussed in the material "Life expectancy of men and women", and the age‑by‑age picture in the article "Men and women in Russia".

Frequently Asked Questions

Who is born more often in Russia, boys or girls?

Boys. In 2022 there were 670,177 of them versus 633,910 girls, i.e. 1,057 per 1,000. This was the case in every year of observation since 1960: the lowest value was 1,047 (1980), the highest 1,066 (2018).

Does the sex ratio at birth change?

Almost not at all. Over 62 years it fluctuated within nineteen points per thousand. Major events such as the dissolution of the USSR, the crises of the 1990s, the pandemic did not affect it.

Is it the same in cities and rural areas?

Close: 1,058 in cities and 1,054 in rural areas in 2022. The difference is too small to draw conclusions.

How many boys and girls were born in 2023?

According to Rosstat’s table “How the composition and movement of the population changed over the years”: 652 thousand boys and 613 thousand girls, a total of 1,265 thousand. The values are given in thousands of people, so we do not calculate the exact ratio from them.

Is it true that boys die more often?

In the first year of life, yes: 4.99 versus 3.99 per 1,000 born in 2022. And in adulthood male mortality in Russia is higher, although in 2021, because of the pandemic, more women died.

Brief Summary

• In 2022, 670,177 boys and 633,910 girls were born, 1,057 boys per 1,000 girls, 51.4% of newborns.
• Since 1960 the ratio has fluctuated in a narrow corridor of 1,047‑1,066 and does not depend on crises. The number of births has almost halved for both sexes.
• In cities 1,058, in rural areas 1,054 per 1,000. Three quarters of children are born in cities.
• Boys die more often before age one: 4.99 versus 3.99 per 1,000 born. By 2024, women in the country outnumber men by 10.3 million.

See also

• Birth rate in Russia by year
• Total fertility rate in Russia
• Infant mortality in Russia
• Life expectancy of men and women

Data source: Rosstat, Demographic Yearbook of Russia, Section 2 (Table 2.2), and the collection "Women and Men of Russia".