A new World Bank report on Russia's grim demographic situation, published Thursday, warns that population decline could speed up and pose a major risk for national security.
Despite improving economic conditions since the Soviet Union's 1991 collapse, the world's largest country is suffering a major population decline due mainly to problems such as alcoholism, smoking, violence, poor dietary habits and traffic accidents, the report said.
Russia's population declined by six million people between 1992 and 2003, falling from 149 million to 143 million.
"If current trends persist, the country's population is expected to decline by over 30 percent during the next 50 years," said the report, entitled "Dying Too Young".
It warns of significant economic problems likely to arise from population decline, including a rising proportion of pensioners and a lack of personnel to guard the country's borders and maintain security in the nuclear power.
"From a national security point of view, the demographic and health crisis in Russia will present many challenges ... If its vast territory is depopulated, instability could grow and the country become increasingly difficult to govern."
Russia could face "a new fertility decline in the future - an extreme sub-replacement fertility level," the report warned.
Average life expectancy at birth in Russia is currently 66 - 16 years lower than in Japan and 14 years below the European Union - and for males is just 58, the report said.
"The probability that a 15-year-old Russian boy will die before he reaches 60 years is over 40 percent," it said.
Russia's health system is overly focussed on fighting infectious diseases and falls down when it comes to dealing with injuries and major non-communicable diseases such as cardiovascular disease and cancer, it explained.
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