Languages

Barents Russia still losing population

The population in Barents Russia is going down. Here from Murmansk city centre.

Thousands of people are moving away from the Russian part of the Barents Region.

Location

Population decline with 13,4 thousand in the first half of 2011. ¾ of this amount is a result of negative migration outside the region.

Komi Republic and Arkhangelsk oblast show the worst results in this dynamic, but also Republic of Karelia and Murmansk oblast have negative figures.

Murmansk oblast lost 1886 people due to negative migration and Karelia showed only minus 262. The highest negative migration balance has Komi Republic – minus 4153 for the first six months of 2011. Arkhangelsk oblast lost 3824 of people due to negative migration processes in the same period.

Murmansk oblast also experience negative migration. Over 14 thousand moved out of the region this year, while 12,3 thousand people moved in.

Totally the Barents Russian regions (Arkhangelsk and Murmansk oblasts, Komi and Karelia republics) lost over 440 thousand of population during the last ten years.

Population of Komi Republic decreased by 11,7%, Murmansk and Arkhangelsk oblasts – by 11%, Karelia – by 10%, according to the figures by Russia’s Federal Statistics.

Text: Andrey Shalyov