Population development trends in Russia and China in the 21st century

Abstract

Currently, Russia and China are in an intermediate position between rich developed countries with declining indigenous populations and poor developing countries with a relatively fast-growing population. However, if China is the world leader in population size (1.38 billion people), Russia, with its much larger territory, has almost ten times less population (144.3 million). However, according to the UN forecasts both countries are facing the same challenge in the 21st century: it is a significant reduction in population size, which necessitates the identification of the prerequisites, causes and effects of the upcoming demographic transformations. This fact determined the purpose of this article – analysis of the population development in Russia and China in the first decades of the 21st century, identification of its differences and general trends. The research was based on statistics from the United Nations, the World Bank and the World Health Organization. The author analyzes the dynamics of population size, age structure, gender ratio, natural movement (fertility and mortality), life expectancy and mortality rate structure. Trends of population development both common for two countries and specific for each of them, were identified; according to the author, they should be taken into account in shaping responds to demographic challenges and in elaborating mechanisms for managing demographic processes.