Putin says the war isn’t driving Russia’s falling birth rate

Vladimir Putin addressed a plenary session of the Eastern Economic Forum, stating that the war in Ukraine is having an impact on Russia's birth rate, but it's not the primary cause of the country's demographic crisis. He pointed out that countries like Japan and South Korea, which don't have a war, still have lower birth rates than Russia.

Putin emphasized that there's no straightforward explanation for the falling birth rate, noting that in post-industrial societies, birth rates are typically low, while countries with relatively poor populations have higher birth rates. He highlighted that raising the birth rate would require new incentives for families and young women, along with a shift in public consciousness.

Putin mentioned that Russia reversed the negative demographic trend in the mid-2000s and achieved a notable increase in the birth rate during that period. He expressed confidence that Russia could repeat this success. However, Rosstat ceased publishing monthly regional data on births and deaths in 2025 and removed the demographic section from its monthly report on Russia's socioeconomic situation.

This decision coincided with a historic decline in Russia's birth rate, with an average of 3,012 children born per day in March 2025, the lowest figure in nearly 200 years of record-keeping. Putin described demographics as a matter of national security. At Meduza, they strive for transparency regarding the use of artificial intelligence in their newsroom, and this story was written by a journalist and translated from Russian using an AI model that adheres to their editorial standards.