Age structure of the Russian population: how many people are at each age

2026-08-17 · Demography

As of January 1, 2023, 146.4 million people lived in Russia. Of these, 27.2 million were younger than working age, 83.4 million were of working age, and 35.8 million were older than it. The share of older groups is 24.5%, which is every fourth resident of the country. In 1959, this figure was 11.8%, every ninth. Rosstat data, the series has been maintained since the 1959 census.

Below are the complete series by five-year age groups, an analysis of where the gaps in the population structure are and where they came from, and interactive charts showing the movement of each cohort.

Age groups of Russia: table

Population at the beginning of the year, thousand people, total population.

Age	1959	1989	2010	2023
0 – 4	13,353	12,032	7,968	7,195
5 – 9	12,415	11,360	7,091	9,373
10 – 14	8,501	10,592	6,610	8,972
15 – 19	8,975	9,968	8,389	7,663
20 – 24	11,552	9,755	12,169	7,292
25 – 29	10,591	12,557	11,982	7,548
30 – 34	11,103	12,863	10,980	11,035
35 – 39	6,423	11,684	10,172	12,845
40 – 44	6,177	7,663	9,241	11,464
45 – 49	7,167	7,955	10,672	10,282
50 – 54	5,965	9,593	11,483	9,311
55 – 59	4,751	8,399	10,022	8,988
60 – 64	3,590	8,360	7,832	10,369
65 – 69	2,664	4,510	4,002	8,958
70 and older	4,303	9,646	14,210	15,152
Total population	117,534	147,022	142,857	146,447

The most numerous five-year cohort today is 35–39 years, 12.8 million people. The least numerous among adults is 20–24 years, 7.3 million. The gap is almost twice, and it is not explained by mortality: we are looking at the difference in the number of births with an interval of fifteen years.

Three large groups: younger than, of, and older than working age

Rosstat groups the population in relation to the working age. The boundaries have shifted over the years along with the pension reform, and this is noticeable in the series: since 2019, the upper limit has been creeping upward, which is why the number of working-age people stopped falling in 2020–2022 and even increased.

Year	Younger than working age	Working age	Older than working age
1959	35,094	68,609	13,827
1979	31,974	82,959	22,436
1989	35,995	83,746	27,196
2002	26,327	88,942	29,778
2010	23,126	87,983	31,714
2019	27,430	81,362	37,989
2023	27,160	83,440	35,847

Working age, older and younger than it: how the three groups have changed since 1959

The number of people older than working age grew from 13.8 to 35.8 million, that is, 2.6 times in sixty-four years. The number of children and adolescents over the same period decreased from 35.1 to 27.2 million. In 1959, there were two and a half times more children than elderly people; now there are more elderly people than children. The complete series for all groups is available in the Rosstat dataset on the website.

Why there are dips in the population structure

The Russian age pyramid is jagged, and every notch has a date.

The War. Few people were born in 1941–1945, and twenty-five years later, few were born to them: this is the echo of the first wave. Subsequently, the wave repeats every generation, gradually fading out.

The decline of the nineties. The number of births fell by approximately half between 1987 and 1999. Those born at the bottom of this decline are currently in the 20–24 age group. Hence, 7.3 million compared to 12.8 million for those born in the late 1980s.

Overlapping. Starting from 2015, those very same small cohorts of the late nineties have been entering the active childbearing age. There are physically fewer mothers, which is why there are fewer births, even with an unchanged number of children per woman. This is visible in the 0–4 age group: 9.3 million in 2015 and 7.2 million in 2023.

Age groups 20-24, 30-34, and 35-39: young cohorts are almost twice as small as forty-year-olds

Urban and rural areas

The urban population at the beginning of 2023 stood at 109.7 million people, and the rural population at 36.8 million. The share of the urban population is 74.9% and is growing slowly: in 1959, it was 52.4%.

The age structures of urban and rural areas differ less than is commonly thought. There are 5.4 million children under 5 years old in urban areas and 1.8 million in rural areas, which in terms of shares represents 4.9% and 4.8% respectively. In the group aged 70 and older, urban areas lead rural areas threefold in absolute terms (11.5 million compared to 3.7 million), but in terms of population share, both parts of the country run almost neck and neck: 10.5% and 10.0%. The difference between urban and rural areas in Russia has long ceased to run along age lines, but rather along other axes.

Children under 5 years old: total, urban, and rural population

Questions and Answers

How many people of working age are there in Russia?

83.4 million people at the beginning of 2023, 57.0% of the population. The peak was in 2007: 90.1 million, or 63.1%. Since then, the group has lost 6.7 million people, and part of the decline was compensated only by the shift in retirement age boundaries.

Which age group in Russia is the largest?

The five-year group of 35–39 years, 12.8 million people. If counting the open-ended group, then it is 70 years and older, 15.2 million.

How many people in Russia are older than 70 years?

15.2 million, or 10.3% of the population. In 1959, there were 4.3 million of them, 3.7% of the population. The share has increased almost threefold.

How many children are there in Russia?

27.2 million people younger than working age, that is, from 0 to 15 years inclusive. This is 18.5% of the population compared to 29.9% in 1959.

Is the population of Russia aging?

Yes, by both standard indicators: the share of older groups is growing (11.8% in 1959, 24.5% in 2023), and the share of children is falling. Moreover, the population is aging not only due to life expectancy. The small size of young cohorts contributes to aging faster, and it is currently the main factor.

When will the dip in young groups pass?

Not before the late 2030s. The small generation of the late nineties is currently aged 25–29 years, and it still has about fifteen years before leaving reproductive age. The size of the 0–4 and 5–9 age groups is already declining by 2023, which means the echo will continue further.

In Brief

The population of Russia at the beginning of 2023 was 146.4 million people: 27.2 million younger than working age, 83.4 million of working age, and 35.8 million older. The share of older groups grew from 11.8% in 1959 to 24.5%, while the share of children fell from 29.9% to 18.5%. The largest five-year group is 35–39 years (12.8 million), and the smallest among adults is 20–24 years (7.3 million). The dips in the pyramid repeat the demographic troughs of the last century with a step of approximately one generation.

The series are taken from open publications of Rosstat and are updated on the website as new data are released.