Mortality in Russia by Year: Statistics, Causes and Charts
In 2023, 1,764.6 thousand people died in Russia. This is the lowest figure in the entire Rosstat series since 2000 and 676.9 thousand less than in 2021, when 2,441,594 people died. The mortality rate fell to 12.1 per 1,000 population versus 14.5 in 2020. Rosstat data.
Below is the full series by year, a breakdown by cause-of-death classes, a month‑by‑month picture of the Covid years, and an answer to the question of what exactly brought mortality back to the pre‑crisis level.
How many people die in Russia: table by year
Number of deaths, people.
| Year | Died |
|---|---|
| 2000 | 2,225,332 |
| 2005 | 2,303,935 |
| 2010 | 2,028,516 |
| 2015 | 1,908,541 |
| 2016 | 1,891,015 |
| 2017 | 1,826,125 |
| 2018 | 1,828,910 |
| 2019 | 1,798,307 |
| 2020 | 2,138,586 |
| 2021 | 2,441,594 |
| 2022 | 1,898,644 |
The series reads as three segments. From 2005 to 2019 mortality declined almost without pauses: down 505,628 people over fourteen years. In 2020 and 2021 it jumped above the early‑century level. Since 2022 it returned to the previous trajectory, and in 2023 fell below any point of the previous twenty years.
A month‑by‑month breakdown is available in the dataset.
Mortality rate per 1,000 people
Absolute numbers are meaningless to compare between countries, so Rosstat uses a rate: number of deaths per 1,000 residents.
| Year | Mortality | Births | Natural change |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2020 | 14.5 | 9.7 | −4.8 |
| 2022 | 12.9 | 8.9 | −4.0 |
| 2023 | 12.1 | 8.6 | −3.5 |
Natural decline over three years shrank by almost a quarter, entirely due to mortality. Births continued to fall in the same period, a trend discussed in the article "Births in Russia by Year".
What people die from in Russia
Main classes of causes of death, thousand people.
| Cause | 2015 | 2020 | 2021 | 2022 | 2023 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Diseases of the circulatory system | 930.1 | 938.5 | 934.0 | 831.6 | 814.4 |
| Neoplasms | 300.2 | 295.9 | 283.2 | 281.1 | 288.8 |
| COVID-19 | no | 144.7 | 465.5 | 139.3 | 14.8 |
| External causes | 177.6 | 139.6 | 139.1 | 146.0 | 156.7 |
| Diseases of the digestive system | 102.0 | 107.4 | 108.7 | 103.4 | 108.2 |
| Diseases of the respiratory system | 75.8 | 96.5 | 114.7 | 81.5 | 77.6 |
Cardiovascular diseases remain the number‑one cause and account for 46% of all deaths in 2023. Over eight years their contribution fell by 115.7 thousand people. Neoplasms stay in a narrow corridor of 281–300 thousand without a clear trend.
The covid series explains almost the whole spike of 2021: 465.5 thousand deaths in one year, that is 19% of all deceased. By 2023 it was down to 14.8 thousand.
What is happening with external causes
External causes include transport accidents, poisonings, suicides, homicides and accidents. Thousand people.
| Cause | 2015 | 2020 | 2023 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Suicides | 25.5 | 16.5 | 11.4 |
| Transport accidents | 24.8 | 17.1 | 15.8 |
| Homicides | 12.0 | 6.9 | 4.7 |
| Alcohol poisonings | 15.2 | 10.2 | 8.2 |
| Tuberculosis | 13.5 | 6.8 | 5.1 |
Here the decline is the most noticeable in all mortality statistics. Homicides fell by a factor of 2.6 over eight years, suicides by a factor of 2.2, deaths from tuberculosis by a factor of 2.6. Mortality in traffic accidents is discussed separately in the article "Traffic accidents in Russia by year" (/blog/dtp-v-rossii-po-godam).
One series goes against the overall picture: HIV mortality was 15.5 thousand in 2015 and 16.6 thousand in 2023. The class of infectious diseases as a whole is declining, while HIV within it is rising.
Monthly picture of the Covid years
The annual figure hides how unevenly deaths were distributed within 2020 and 2021.
Number of deaths by month, people:
- October 2021: 265,636
- November 2021: 241,687
- December 2020: 232,291
- November 2020: 227,899
- July 2021: 217,893
- October 2020: 215,209
For comparison, a typical month in 2019 had 143–169 thousand deaths. October 2021 exceeded October 2019 by 77% and became the toughest month in the whole series of observations since 2000.
Questions and answers
How many people die in Russia per year?
According to Rosstat data for 2023, 1,764.6 thousand people died, a rate of 12.1 per 1,000 population.
Which year was the toughest in terms of mortality?
2021: 2,441,594 deaths. Of these, 465.5 thousand are attributed to COVID-19.
What do people die from most often in Russia?
Diseases of the circulatory system: 814.4 thousand people in 2023, about 46% of all deaths. In second place are neoplasms, 288.8 thousand.
Is it true that mortality has returned to the pre‑Covid level?
It fell below it. In 2019, 1,798,307 people died; in 2023, 1,764.6 thousand, i.e., roughly 34 thousand fewer.
Why is the population still shrinking?
Because births are fewer than deaths. Natural decline in 2023 was 3.5 people per 1,000 population, which is already an improvement compared with 4.8 in 2020.
In short
Mortality in Russia went through two anomalous years and returned to a long‑term declining trend: 1,764.6 thousand deaths in 2023 versus 2,441,594 in 2021. The main cause of death remains the same—circulatory system diseases—but their contribution over eight years decreased by 115.7 thousand people. The fastest declines are seen in external causes: murders and tuberculosis fell by 2.6 times, suicides by 2.2 times. The only growing category is mortality from HIV.