section_path: Demographics
section_name: Demographics
paragraph_text: Demographics
  
  Russia had a population of 144.7 million in 2021 (excluding Crimea and Sevastopol), growing from 142.8 million in 2010. It is the most populous country in Europe and ninth most populous in the world. With a population density of 8 inhabitants per square kilometre (21 inhabitants/sq mi), Russia is one of the world's most sparsely populated countries, with the vast majority of its people concentrated within its western part. The country is highly urbanised, with two-thirds of the population living in towns and cities,
  
  Russia's population peaked at over 148 million in 1993, having subsequently declined due to its death rate exceeding its birth rate, which some analysts have called a demographic crisis. In 2009, it recorded annual population growth for the first time in fifteen years, and subsequently experienced annual population growth due to declining death rates, increased birth rates, and increased immigration. However, these population gains have been reversed since 2020, as excessive deaths from the COVID-19 pandemic resulted in the largest peacetime decline in its history. Following the Russian invasion of Ukraine in 2022, the demographic crisis has deepened, owing to reportedly high military fatalities and renewed emigration caused by Western mass-sanctions and boycotts.
  
  In 2022, the total fertility rate across Russia was estimated to be 1.42 children born per woman, which is below the replacement rate of 2.1 and among the lowest in the world. Subsequently, the nation has one of the world's oldest populations, with a median age of 40.3 years.
  
  Russia is a multinational state with many subnational entities associated with different minorities. There are over 193 ethnic groups nationwide. In the 2010 census, roughly 81% of the population were ethnic Russians, and the remaining 19% of the population were ethnic minorities; while over four-fifths of Russia's population was of European descent —of whom the vast majority were Slavs, with a substantial minority of Finno-Ugric and Germanic peoples. According to the United Nations, Russia's immigrant population is the world's third-largest, numbering over 11.6 million; most of which are from post-Soviet states, mainly from Central Asia.