Saturday, December 17, 2011

As ever, their problems are greater

BBC Russian Service reports [in Russian by Mr Google will translate if you ask nicely] that the latest census shows a severe decrease in the Russian population, despite a slight increase in the birth rate and standards of living in the last few years.

Between 1989 (the last Soviet census) and 2002 (the first Russian one) the population decreased by 1.8 million; by 2010 (the last census) another decrease was registered, this time of 2.3 million. The problems are manifold: low birth rate, ever lower life expectancy and the number of young people who leave the country (not mentioned in the story). In fact, the problem would have been even worse if there had not been an influx of Russians from the various former Soviet republics. The closest estimate is that about 7 or 8 million "immigrated" into Russia. What with various problems to do with housing and infrastructure they are not always welcome.

9 comments:

  1. Helen,

    You (and your source) should be more cautious about Russian population data. Of course population fell during the Yeltsin years, which were truly dreadful for most people, as even well handled transitions can be (and the former Communists handled that transition pretty badly). And the 90s still have an effect, as children born then are the parents now. But August 2011 saw more births than any other month since 1991; population appears to be rising again. The Russian "population crisis" is wildly overstated, and things are turning round.

    ReplyDelete
  2. My source and I mention the rise in the birth rate. However, overall, there has been a fall in the population for reasons mentioned in my piece. The two are not mutually incompatible.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Helen, you are so deep in denial it’s a joke. English people are well on their way to becoming a minority in their own land by the second half of this century. Complain all you like about Putin's election rigging but nothing he has ever done done will be as demonic as what our own previous government did namely opening our borders for the deliberate purpose of destroying British culture.

    ReplyDelete
  4. Hmm. Another troll, methinks. Welcome.

    ReplyDelete
  5. I'm just saying Helen that people who like to peddle the 'Dying Russia' story, (or the "Dying Japan" story), usually liberals and neocons, have a large blind spot when it comes to the Anglosphere's own demographic stuation which is at least equally as bad if not worse. At least Putin understands the cause of Russia's demographic crisis and has taken some measures to improve things.

    ReplyDelete
  6. And I am saying, Andrew, that your rant had no connection whatsoever with the topic of my posting. That's called trolling.

    ReplyDelete
  7. Not really because I wasn’t only commenting specifically on this posting but on the anti-Putin theme of your last few articles on here and on Taki Mag which were generally lacking in perspective.

    ReplyDelete
  8. This is a little difficult for a troll to grasp but they were all about Russia. OK? Not about whatever is your particular preoccupation is (if, indeed, that is what makes you troll here). So, if you are not interested in Russia, do not read them. Much as I want hits and readers, I can do without trolls. Plenty of blogs out there that cater to your interests. It is ridiculous, to put it mildly, to read postings about one particular subject and then rant because they are not about something else. As I said above, it is called trolling.

    ReplyDelete
  9. Helen: "Russia's demographic problems are greater than ours. Western governments are superior"
    Adrian: "Actually no they're not, our demographic problems are the same if not worse and the British government is more evil than the Russian government"
    Helen: "Why are you are comparing the Russian government with the British government? That's trolling!!"
    Adrian: Actually no it's called putting things into perspective. Closed-minded people who rail against foreign governments while their own governments are far worse need to be shown the overall picture. This conversation is getting boring. I think we'll leave it there.

    ReplyDelete