Russia has a falling birth rate and a declining population despite having an improving economy after the collapse of the Soviet Union. According to the United Nations, Russia's population could fall by as much as one third by 2050. Russian government statisticians estimated in 2005 that a boy born in their country that year has a slim chance of seeing his 60th birthday due to various lifestyle-related problems (such as alcoholism). A gap in life expectancy between the West and Russia started becoming noticeable in the 1960s. Russia's population dropped 6% between the mid-1990s and early 2010s.