Rosstat Presented Preliminary Figures on the Population in the Regions of the Country According to the All-Russian Population Census

Almost 75% of the population of the country lives in cities, while the number of million-plus cities has increased up to 16. According to preliminary data of the All-Russian Population Census, which took place in October-November of 2021, the population has grown in 28 regions, while the total population of Russia constitutes 147.2 million people.

During the period between the two All–Russian censuses (from 2010 to 2021) the population of Russia grew by 1.4% and amounted to 147.2 million people. The number of residents has grown in 28 regions. Sevastopol showed the greatest increase in residents: the population of the city grew by almost 40%, amounting to 548 thousand people. Moscow and the Moscow Region, as well as St. Petersburg and the Leningrad Region remain among the most densely populated regions of Russia. More than 21.5 million people live in Moscow and the Moscow Region: just over 13 million live in Moscow, while 8.5 million people reside in the Moscow Region (data for October 2021). More than 7.6 million residents live in St. Petersburg and the Leningrad Region. Around 5.6 million reside in St. Petersburg, while 2 million live in the Leningrad Region.

The census demonstrated the ongoing urbanization process in Russia: 74.8% of the country's population live in cities, while in 2010, the ratio of urban and rural population was 73.5% and 26.5%, respectively.

Four Russian cities (Krasnodar, Krasnoyarsk, Perm and Voronezh) have joined the list of million-plus cities. Currently, there are 16 cities in the country where more than one million people live on a permanent basis. In addition to the mentioned newcomers, these include Moscow, St. Petersburg, Novosibirsk, Yekaterinburg, Kazan, Nizhny Novgorod, Chelyabinsk, Samara, Ufa, Rostov-on-Don, Omsk and Volgograd. On the whole, almost a quarter of the population of the country (35.7 million people) resides in these cities.

In federal districts, the population has shown an increase during the decade:

  • by 2.2% in the North-Western Federal District;
  • by 7.9% in the North Caucasus Federal District;
  • by 1.8% in the Ural region;
  • by 5% in the Central Federal District;
  • by 3.8% in the Southern Federal District.

The Republic of Ingushetia with  – (+)23.5% of population growth, as well as the Chechen Republic with (+)19.1% growth showed the maximum population growth In the North Caucasus Federal District. In addition, demographic growth was registered in Dagestan, Kabardino-Balkaria and Stavropol Krai.

The Central Federal District with more than 40 million people has become the most densely populated federal District. The second largest population was registered in the Volga Federal District (almost 29 million people). Siberia closes the top three with 16.8 million people.

In addition to the permanent population of Russia, the census took into account the number of people who were on the territory of Russia temporarily (less than one year), while permanently residing abroad. Thus, in October of the previous year, this number amounted to 350 thousand people. The preferred regions for temporary stay in Russia are Moscow, Moscow Region, Primorsky Krai, Amur Region and the Republic of Tatarstan.

The final results of the census will have been summed up and published by December 31, 2022. Upon completion of data processing, the final figures can increase or decrease slightly.

Until the end of 2022, the final results on various topics and areas will be issued monthly:

  • In June – population by municipalities;
  • Starting from August – publication of data in the form of tables and graphs on the Rosstat website;
  • In September – information on gender and age composition, education, nationalities and language proficiency;
  • In October – data on migration and indigenous minorities,
  • In November – fertility and household composition,
  • By December – information on housing conditions and labor force characteristics.

For reference:

The All-Russian Population Census was held from October 15 to November 14, 2021 with extensive use of digital technologies. The main innovation of the census was the possibility for residents to fill out an electronic census form independently on the Public Services portal (Gosuslugi.ru). During the round of the residential houses, census-takers used tablet computers of domestic production with the Russian OS "Aurora". It was also possible to complete the census at the collection units, including the premises of the MPSC "My Documents".

30 May 2022
18:03