DEMOGRAPHICS

General Information

As of the beginning of 2021, according to data from the state statistics service (Rosstat), the population of the Russian Federation is more than 146 mil. people. The male population of the country is 46% of the total population (68 mil. people), the female population – 54% (78 mil. people). The median age of the population is 40 years, with almost 10% being in the oldest age group – 70 years and older, which is the most numerous. The percentage of people under 18 years old is 23%. The smallest group is the population aged 20 to 25 years (6 889 000 people as of 2020), constituting almost 5% of the entire population.

The sex ratio indicator – 0,86 men per one woman.

The overall life expectancy for 2021 is 72 years, with male life expectancy being approximately 66 years, while female life expectancy is 77 years.

Ethnic and Confessional Composition

Ethnic Composition

Russia is a multinational and multicultural country. According to Rosstat data, representatives of more than 200 ethnic groups live within the Russian Federation. Seven main ethnic groups with a population of more than 1 mil. are distinguished:

Russians (81%) – an East Slavic people, divided into many local anthropological types.
Tatars (3,9%) – a Turkic people, divided into three main groups: Volga-Ural, Astrakhan, Siberian.
Ukrainians (1,4%) – belong to the Dnieper-Carpathian anthropological group of Slavs.
Bashkirs (1,1%) – occupy an intermediate position between the Caucasian and Mongoloid races.
Chuvash (1%) – the people consist of Caucasian and Mongoloid anthropological types and their mixed forms.
Chechens (1%) – a people living in the North Caucasus.
Armenians (0,9%) – representatives of the Armenoid race.

Confessional Composition

Russia is a secular state; citizens have freedom of religion, including the right to profess, individually or jointly with others, any religion or not to profess any. On the territory of Russia, the main religions are:

Christianity – three main branches of Christianity are represented in the country: Orthodoxy, Catholicism, and Protestantism. According to data from the All-Russian Center for the Study of Public Opinion (VTsIOM), 75% of Russians profess Orthodoxy. Catholicism is professed by less than 1% of the population, Protestantism by approximately 2% of the population.
Islam in Russia is professed by more than 14% of the population. Mainly – ethnic Muslims. The majority of Muslims live in the Volga-Ural region, as well as in the North Caucasus, Moscow, St. Petersburg, and in Western Siberia.
Judaism – approximately 10% of Russia's residents profess Judaism; according to the Federation of Jewish Communities of Russia, approximately 500 thousand Jews live in Moscow, about 170 thousand in St. Petersburg. About 70 synagogues operate in the country.
Buddhism – is a traditional religion in the regions of the Russian Federation: Buryatia, Tuva, and Kalmykia. It is professed by more than 1% of the population.

State Language

In accordance with Article 68 of the Constitution of the Russian Federation, the state language of the country is the Russian language. The republics constituting the Russian Federation have the right to establish their own state languages, used alongside the state language of the country. Languages of fourteen language families are spread across the territory of Russia. The most common languages belong to the Indo-European, Altai, Caucasian, and Uralic language families. In total, ethnic groups in Russia use approximately 178 languages, of which more than fourteen languages have official status.