MOSCOW: Russia’s population grew this year for the first time since 1995, Prime Minister Vladimir Putin said today, after years of precipitous decline following the

collapse of the

Soviet Union.

“We can say with a high degree of confidence that Russia will register a growth in population for the first time since 1995,” Putin said at an end-of-year government meeting broadcast on state television.

Putin said official statistics to be released later would bear this fact out and his spokesman, Dmitry Peskov, confirmed that the population growth occurred this year.

In eight years as president prior to becoming prime minister in 2008, Putin frequently lamented the steady and sharp drop in Russia’s population since the Soviet collapse, describing it in 2006 as the country’s biggest problem.

That decline has been due in large measure to emigration from Russia but has also been attributed to a number of other factors including high rates of alcoholism, high stress and low public health standards.

In his annual presidential address to the nation that year, Putin laid out a three-pronged strategy for boosting the Russian population. His plan focussed on extending Russia’s notoriously low life expectancy, increasing the rate of new births and implementing a more “efficient” migration policy. Putin also announced today that the average Russian life expectancy was expected to have increased in 2009 to “almost 69 years.”

If confirmed by official demographic data, this would represent a significant increase by comparison with 2008 when, according to Health Minister Tatyana Golikova, the average Russian life expectancy was 67.8 years.

Peskov told AFP that the anticipated Russian population growth was of only around 20,000 people, describing this as a “symbolic” amount. He said the growth was due to a combination of increased migration to Russia and a drop in the disparity between births and deaths.