Russian population decreases one and a half % against 2002
MOSCOW. March 28. KAZINFORM Russia's population totals 142,905,200, according to the 2010 census, a 1.6 percent decrease (2.2 million) against 2002, the Federal Service for State Statistics said in a report on preliminary results, published by the newspaper Rossiiskaya Gazeta.
The population decreases due to a natural cause, when the mortality rate exceeds the birth rate. The the inflow of migrants continued throughout the entire period between the censuses.
Central Russia, and the Volga and Siberian Federal District remain the most populous areas accounting for more than 61 percent of the country's population.
Compared with 2002 census, 63 Russian provinces have reported a decrease in the population since 2002, while 20 regions have registered an increase.
Russia is a highly urbanized county, where the share of urban population made 73.7 percent in 2010, versus 73.3 percent in 2002.
According to preliminary results of the census, the number of females considerably exceeds that of males. The difference amounted to 10.515 million in 2010 versus 9.956 million in 2002.
The census registered 66.205 million men and 76.700 million women. The ratio has somewhat worsened due to a high rate of premature deaths among men; Kazinform refers to Itar-Tass.