Russia”needs“of migrants to develop in the face of a demographic situation”tense“, declared Kremlin spokesperson Dmitri Peskov in an interview with the RIA Novosti agency published this Friday, November 22.
“Migrants are a need” said Mr. Peskov. “The problem is that we have a very tense demographic situation. We live in the greatest country in the world, but we are few in number“, he explained.
Russia already adopted a law on November 12 prohibiting the promotion of a child-free lifestyle, seeking to remedy the deep crisis inherited from the Soviet era and largely amplified by the conflict in Ukraine.
“So that we can develop dynamically, carry out all development projects, we need a workforce“, underlined Mr. Peskov, affirming that the Russian authorities can only”greet“the arrival of migrants in the country.
920,200 children born between January and September 2024
In July, the Kremlin recognized a demographic situation “catastrophic for the future of the nation“.
In 2023, the fertility rate in Russia was 1.41 children per woman of childbearing age, far from the population renewal rate, according to estimates from the Russian statistics agency (Rosstat), cited by the economic daily RBC.
Russia does not communicate on its military losses on the Ukrainian front, but the conflict only accentuates this trend.
According to Rosstat, 920,200 children were born in Russia between January and September 2024, a decrease of 3.4% compared to the same period of the previous year. According to Russian media, this is the worst toll since the end of the 1990s.
