Birth rate in Russia by year: statistics, charts and reasons for the decline
In 2022, 1,304,087 children were born in Russia. That is 636,492 fewer than in the peak year 2015, when 1,940,579 people were born: a drop of one‑third over seven years. The overall birth rate by 2023 fell to 8.6 births per 1,000 population, the total fertility rate to 1.41 children per woman. Rosstat data.
Below is the full series by year, breakdown by mother's age, comparison with neighboring countries, and an analysis of two reasons for the decline that are often confused.
How many children are born in Russia: table by year
Number of live births, persons.
| Year | Born |
|---|---|
| 2000 | 1,266,800 |
| 2005 | 1,457,376 |
| 2010 | 1,788,948 |
| 2015 | 1,940,579 |
| 2016 | 1,888,729 |
| 2017 | 1,690,307 |
| 2018 | 1,604,344 |
| 2019 | 1,481,074 |
| 2020 | 1,436,514 |
| 2021 | 1,398,253 |
| 2022 | 1,304,087 |
The series is divided into two parts. From 2000 to 2015 births increased each year, the gain was 673,779 people, plus 53%. Since 2016 the series has only gone down, and by 2022 it returned almost to the 2000 level: the difference between these two points is only 37,287 births.
The full set with monthly breakdown is available in the dataset.
Birth rate: births per 1,000 people
The absolute number of births depends on population size, so demographers look at the rate: how many children were born per 1,000 residents in a year.
| Year | Birth rate | Mortality | Natural increase |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2020 | 9.7 | 14.5 | −4.8 |
| 2022 | 8.9 | 12.9 | −4.0 |
| 2023 | 8.6 | 12.1 | −3.5 |
Natural decline is shrinking, but not because of birth rate: it continues to fall. Mortality is decreasing, after being unusually high in 2020 and 2021. Life expectancy is rising, and its series is examined in the article "Life expectancy in Russia by year".
Total fertility rate
The most honest indicator for comparing generations is the total fertility rate (TFR): how many children a woman would have on average if current age-specific birth intensities persisted.
| Year | TFR |
|---|---|
| 2015 | 1.762 |
| 2020 | 1.474 |
| 2021 | 1.470 |
| 2022 | 1.416 |
| 2023 | 1.410 |
| 2024 | 1.4 |
For simple population replacement a TFR of about 2.1 is needed. Russia has not reached this level since Soviet times, and the gap widened over nine years: from 0.34 child in 2015 to 0.7 in 2024.
For comparison, according to the same Rosstat yearbook for 2024, the TFR of Uzbekistan is 3.4, Kazakhstan 2.8, Armenia 1.7, Azerbaijan 1.4, Belarus 1.1. Russia's 1.4 is in the middle of the post‑Soviet range, not at its bottom.
Mother's age: where exactly birth rates fell
The overall figure hides the main point. Birth rates fell unevenly across ages, almost entirely in the younger groups.
Live births per 1,000 women of the corresponding age:
| Age | 2015 | 2023 | Change |
|---|---|---|---|
| under 20 | 24.0 | 12.4 | −48% |
| 20–24 years | 90.0 | 63.1 | −30% |
| 25–29 years | 111.3 | 90.6 | −19% |
| 30–34 years | 82.2 | 65.5 | −20% |
| 35–39 years | 39.8 | 38.3 | −4% |
| 40–44 years | 8.3 | 9.7 | +17% |
| 45–49 years | 0.4 | 0.6 | +50% |
The under‑twenty group gives birth twice as rarely as eight years ago. The 35–39 group barely shifted, and after forty births increased. Motherhood is shifting to the right on the age scale, and this is a long‑standing trend, not an effect of recent years. Age‑specific details are available on the dataset page.
Why fertility is falling: two reasons that are confused
First reason: fewer women of child‑bearing age
People now in the active reproductive age of 20–29 were born in the late 1990s and early 2000s. How small this cohort is can be seen in the first row of the table above: in 2000, 1,266,800 people were born, a third less than in 2015.
Even with unchanged birth intensity, the number of children would drop: there would be physically no one to give birth. The age structure of the population is examined in detail in the article "Age composition of Russia's population".
Second reason: birth intensity has also decreased
If it were only about cohort size, the total fertility rate would stay the same. It fell from 1.762 to 1.41, meaning women of the same age are giving birth less often.
The two reasons overlap, and that is why the decline is so deep. A small generation that also postpones the birth of the first child reduces births by a third over seven years.
In which month more children are born
Seasonality in Russian data is stable. In 2022, by month:
- July: 118,656
- August: 118,291
- September: 113,324
- June: 113,299
- January: 110,684
- December: 109,732
- March: 107,627
- October: 106,276
- May: 105,004
- November: 101,931
- February: 100,198
- April: 99,065
The gap between July and April is 19,591 births, about 20%. The summer peak persists in all years of the series since 2000: conceptions occur in the autumn.
Questions and Answers
How many children are born in Russia each year?
According to the latest complete Rosstat data for 2022, 1,304,087 people were born. The overall rate for 2023 was 8.6 births per 1,000 population.
What is the current total fertility rate?
1.4 children per woman according to the 2024 data. In 2015 it was 1.762.
When was the highest birth rate in Russia in the last 25 years?
In 2015: 1,940,579 births. This is the maximum for the entire Rosstat series, which starts in 2000.
Does migration compensate for natural decline?
Partially. Natural decline in 2023 was 3.5 people per 1,000 population, and migration gain was noticeably smaller. The figures are discussed in the article "International migration in Russia".
Where can I view data for my region?
Regional breakdowns are available in the site catalog: Rosstat publishes fertility rates for each federal subject separately.
In Brief
Births in Russia peaked in 2015 and have since fallen by a third, to 1,304,087 births in 2022. The total rate dropped from 1.762 to 1.4. The decline comes from two parts: a small cohort born in the 1990s reaching child‑bearing age, and a reduction in birth intensity among women under 35. The only groups where births have increased are women over forty.