Citation

Haub C. Popul. Today 1995; 23(1): 1-2.

Copyright

(Copyright © 1995, Population Reference Bureau)

DOI

unavailable

PMID

12319057

Abstract

Fertility and life expectancy have changed since the breakup of the Soviet republics in 1991 and continue to change very rapidly. Before 1991, the USSR was the fastest growing developed country in the world. Annual growth rates in the mid-1980s were 0.9% compared to only 0.1% in Europe or 1.1% in the US. Immigration did not greatly affect the USSR's growth rate. By 1993, the population had declined in 8 of the 15 former republics. Deaths exceeded births in Russia, Belarus, Ukraine, Estonia, and Latvia, followed by Lithuania in 1994. The last census was conducted in 1989. Fertility declined in Russia from 1.9 in 1990 to 1.4 in 1993. Fertility has been low in Lithuania at 1.7, in the Ukraine at 1.6, in Latvia at 1.5, and in Estonia at 1.4. Kazakhstan, Georgia, and Kyrgyzstan have experienced fertility decline, which was affected by emigration to Russia and other countries after 1990. 25 million Russians have resided in the former republics in 1990. In Kazakhstan, the 160,000 more births than deaths were offset by 200,000 emigrants. Central republics with higher fertility experienced declines after 1990; for example, Kyrgyzstan declined from 3.7 in 1990 to 3.3 in 1993. Life expectancy for males in Russia in 1993 was 58.9 years, which was a decline from 63.8 years in 1990. About 50% of the decline in life expectancy was due to circulatory diseases, and about 25% was due to external causes such as accidents, suicide, and alcoholism. Infant mortality has been increasing since 1990; for example, it increased in the Ukraine from 12.9 in 1990 to 14.1 in 1992. Russia's population in 1993 experienced 700,000 more deaths than births. The demographic impact will be declining school enrollments and smaller employment among the working population to support the aged. The change to a market economy has been uneven in Russia, where it has advanced more rapidly than in the republics. It is unclear whether the declining birth rate and increasing mortality rates will continue, but ample evidence exists of rapid population change due to social and economic upheaval.

Language: en