In 2023, the mortality rate in Russia amounted to 12.1 deaths per 1,000 population, marking a decrease compared to two years prior when it peaked at 16.7 deaths per 1,000 inhabitants as a result of the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic. The death rate in the country was historically higher among the rural population.

The number of deaths per 1,000 inhabitants in Russia stood at **** in 2023. Between 1960 and 2023, the death rate rose by ****, though the increase followed an uneven trajectory rather than a consistent upward trend.

In 2021, the highest number of deaths per one thousand inhabitants in Russia for both genders occurred among age groups of 80 years and up. In general, the male population had a much higher mortality rate, especially in the age groups of 50 years and older.

Russia: Death rate, per 1000 people: The latest value from 2023 is 12.1 deaths per 1000 people, a decline from 12.9 deaths per 1000 people in 2022. In comparison, the world average is 7.70 deaths per 1000 people, based on data from 196 countries. Historically, the average for Russia from 1960 to 2023 is 11.85 deaths per 1000 people. The minimum value, 7.31 deaths per 1000 people, was reached in 1964 while the maximum of 16.7 deaths per 1000 people was recorded in 2021.

The most common cause of death in Russia in 2023 was diseases of the circulatory system, with approximately *** deaths per 100,000 of the country's population. Furthermore, *** deaths per 100,000 population occurred due to neoplasms, which were the second leading cause of mortality in the country. The third-most common cause was diseases of the nervous system, accounting for nearly ** deaths per 100,000 residents. Are there more births or deaths in Russia per year? In recent years, the annual number of deaths was higher than the count of births in Russia. The natural decrease in the population, calculated as the difference between deaths and births, was around one million in 2021. The number of deaths per one thousand population, also known as the mortality rate, increased from **** in 2021 to **** in 2022. How long do Russians live on average? Russian residents born in 2022 were expected to live an average of ** years. The country had one of the largest gender gaps in life expectancy in the OECD, according to the World Bank's World Development Indicators in 2021. Women were expected to live for approximately ** years longer than men.

Historical dataset showing Russia death rate by year from 1950 to 2025.

Actual value and historical data chart for Russia Death Rate Crude Per 1 000 People

1. Database contents The Russian Short-Term Mortality Fluctuations database (RusSTMF) contains a series of standardized and crude death rates for men, women and both sexes for Russia as a whole and its regions for the period from 2000 to 2021. All the output indicators presented in the database are calculated based on data of deaths registered by the Vital Registry Office. The weekly death counts are calculated based on depersonalized individual data provided by the Russian Federal State Statistics Service (Rosstat) at the request of the HSE. Time coverage: 03.01.2000 (Week 1) – 31.12.2021 (Week 1148)
2. A brief description of the input data on deaths Date of death: date of occurrence Unit of time: week First and last days of the week: Monday – Sunday First and last week of the year: The weeks are organized according to ISO 8601:2004 guidelines. Each week of the year, including the first and last, contains 7 days. In order to get 7-day weeks, the days of previous years are included in this first week (if January 1 fell on Tuesday, Wednesday or Thursday) or in the last calendar week (if December 31 fell on Thursday, Friday or Saturday). Age groups: the entire population Sex: men, women, both sexes (men and women combined) Restrictions and data changes: data on deaths in the Pskov region were excluded for weeks 9-13 of 2012 Note: Deaths with an unknown date of occurrence (unknown year, month, or day) account for about 0.3% of all deaths and are excluded from the calculation of week-age-specific and standardized death rates.
3. Description of the week-specific mortality rates data file Week-specific standardized death rates for Russia as a whole and its regions are contained in a single data file presented in .csv format. The format of data allows its uploading into any system for statistical analysis. Each record (row) in the data file contains data for one calendar year, one week, one territory, one sex. The decimal point is dot (.) The first element of the row is the territory code ("PopCode" column), the second element is the year ("Year" column), the third element ("Week" column) is the week of the year, the fourth element ("Sex" column) is sex (F – female, M – male, B – both sexes combined). This is followed by a column "CDR" with the value of the crude death rate and "SDR" with the value of the standardized death rate. If the indicator cannot be calculated for some combination of year, sex, and territory, then the corresponding meaningful data elements in the data file are replaced with ".".

Russia RU: Suicide Mortality Rate: Male data was reported at 55.900 NA in 2016. This records a decrease from the previous number of 57.800 NA for 2015. Russia RU: Suicide Mortality Rate: Male data is updated yearly, averaging 71.700 NA from Dec 2000 (Median) to 2016, with 5 observations. The data reached an all-time high of 93.500 NA in 2000 and a record low of 55.900 NA in 2016. Russia RU: Suicide Mortality Rate: Male data remains active status in CEIC and is reported by World Bank. The data is categorized under Global Database’s Russian Federation – Table RU.World Bank.WDI: Health Statistics. Suicide mortality rate is the number of suicide deaths in a year per 100,000 population. Crude suicide rate (not age-adjusted).; ; World Health Organization, Global Health Observatory Data Repository (http://apps.who.int/ghodata/).; Weighted average;

Actual value and historical data chart for Russia Tuberculosis Death Rate Per 100000 People

This horizontal bar chart displays death rate (per 1,000 people) by region using the aggregation average, weighted by population in Russia. The data is about countries per year.

Russia RU: Suicide Mortality Rate: Female data was reported at 9.400 NA in 2016. This records a decrease from the previous number of 9.900 NA for 2015. Russia RU: Suicide Mortality Rate: Female data is updated yearly, averaging 12.500 NA from Dec 2000 (Median) to 2016, with 5 observations. The data reached an all-time high of 16.500 NA in 2000 and a record low of 9.400 NA in 2016. Russia RU: Suicide Mortality Rate: Female data remains active status in CEIC and is reported by World Bank. The data is categorized under Global Database’s Russian Federation – Table RU.World Bank.WDI: Health Statistics. Suicide mortality rate is the number of suicide deaths in a year per 100,000 population. Crude suicide rate (not age-adjusted).; ; World Health Organization, Global Health Observatory Data Repository (http://apps.who.int/ghodata/).; Weighted average;

The mortality rate decreased both in urban and rural areas of Russia in 2023. Nearly ** deaths per 1,000 population were recorded in cities in that year. To compare, in the countryside, the mortality rate reached ** deaths per 1,000 people.

View daily updates and historical trends for Russia Coronavirus Death Rate. Source: Johns Hopkins Center for Systems Science and Engineering. Track econom…

Historical dataset showing Russia infant mortality rate by year from 1950 to 2025.

Mortality rate, neonatal (per 1,000 live births) in Russia was reported at 1.7 % in 2023, according to the World Bank collection of development indicators, compiled from officially recognized sources. Russia - Mortality rate; neonatal (per 1;000 live births) - actual values, historical data, forecasts and projections were sourced from the World Bank on November of 2025.

Actual value and historical data chart for Russia Mortality Rate Under 5 Per 1 000

Description

Data Set from the Russian Federation Federal State Statistics Service - Росстат. Collected, translated into English language and published. Mortality in Russia by cause of death in 2018 (absolute numbers).

Causes of death statistics are obtained from the inscriptions in medical death certificates filled in by a physician referring to disease, accident, homicide, suicide, or any other external factor (injuries due to actions envisaged by the law, non-specified injuries, injuries caused by military actions) which led directly to death. Such inscriptions are used as a reason for classifying death causes in civil registration records of deaths.

Some of the presented causes of death:

Cause of death, Cholera, Typhoid fever, Paratyphoid, Salmonella infections, Shigellosis, Food poisoning, Intestinal infections, Tuberculosis, Plague, Anthrax, Brucellosis, Leprosy, Tetanus, Diphtheria, Whooping cough Scarlet fever, Meningococcal infection, Sepsis, Erysipelas, Other bacterial infections, Syphilis, Sexually transmitted infections, Typhus, Poliomyelitis, Rabies, Viral encephalitis, Measles, Hepatitis A, Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) Disease, Other diseases caused by viruses, Malaria, Leishmaniasis, Trypanosomiasis, Schistosomiasis, Malignant, Leukemia, Neoplasms, Diabetes, Diseases of the endocrine system, eating disorders and metabolic disorders, Mental disorders, Parkinson's disease, Alzheimer's disease, Multiple sclerosis, Hypertension, myocardial infarction, Myocardial infarction, Stroke, Urolithiasis, Birth injury, Intrauterine hypoxia and asphyxia in childbirth, Suicides, Murder, Firearm Accident, Other accidents, Causes of death due to alcohol, Drug-related causes of death, All types of transport accidents And many more causes of death.

Area covered

Russia

Categories

Public Health, Death, Russia, Database

Acknowledgements & Source

Sergey Soshnikov

Data Source

View Details

Image Source

Mortality rate, adult, male (per 1,000 male adults) in Russia was reported at 301 % in 2023, according to the World Bank collection of development indicators, compiled from officially recognized sources. Russia - Mortality rate, adult, male (per 1,000 male adults) - actual values, historical data, forecasts and projections were sourced from the World Bank on November of 2025.

Context - Covid data falsification discussion:

An active discussion about the mortality data in Moscow has erupted in the days. The Moscow Times newspaper drew attention to a significant increase in official mortality rates in April 2020: "Moscow recorded 20% more fatalities in April 2020 compared to its average April mortality total over the past decade, according to newly published preliminary data from Moscow’s civil registry office. The data comes as Russia sees the fastest growth in coronavirus infections in Europe, while its mortality rate remains much lower than in many countries. Moscow, the epicenter of Russia’s coronavirus outbreak, has continued to see daily spikes in new cases despite being under lockdown since March 30. According to the official data, 11,846 people died in Russia’s capital in April of this year, roughly a 20% increase from the 10-year average for April deaths, which is 9,866. The numbers suggest that the city’s statistics of coronavirus deaths may be higher in reality than official numbers indicate. Russia boasts a relatively low coronavirus mortality rate of 0.9%, which experts believe is linked to the way coronavirus-related deaths are counted."

After this publication have been realesed The Moscow Department of Health has denied the statement of the inaccuracy of counting.:

First, Moscow is a region that openly publishes mortality data on its websites. Moscow on an initiative basis published data for April before the federal structures did it. Secondly, the comparison of mortality rates in the monthly dynamics is incorrect and is not a clear evidence of any trends. In April 2020, indeed, according to the Civil Registry Office in Moscow, 11,846 death certificates were issued. So, the increase compared to April 2019 amounted to 1841 people, and compared to the same month of 2018 - 985 people, i.e. 2 times less. Thirdly, the diagnosis of coronavirus-infected deaths in Moscow is established after a mandatory autopsy is performed in strict accordance with the Provisional Guidelines of the Russian Ministry of Health.Of the total number of deaths in April 2020, 639 are people whose cause of death is coronavirus infection and its complications, most often pneumonia.It should be emphasized that the pathological autopsy of the dead with suspected CoV-19 in Russia and Moscow is carried out in 100% of cases, unlike most other countries.It is impossible to name the cause of death of COVID-19 in other cases. For example, over 60% of deaths occurred from obvious alternative causes, such as vascular accidents (myocardial infarction and stroke), stage 4 malignant diseases (essentially palliative patients), leukemia, systemic diseases with the development of organ failure (e.g. amyloidosis and terminal renal insufficiency) and other non-curable deadly diseases. Fourth, any seasonal increase in the incidence of SARS, not to mention the pandemic caused by the spread of the new coronavirus, is always accompanied by an increase in mortality. This is due to the appearance of the dead directly from an infectious disease, but to an even greater extent from other diseases, the exacerbation of which and the decompensation of the condition of patients suffering from these diseases also leads to death. In these cases, the infectious onset is a catalyst for the rapid progression of chronic diseases and the manifestation of new diseases. Fifthly, a similar situation with statistics is observed in other countries - mortality from COVID-19 is lower than the overall increase in mortality. According to the official sites of cities:In New York, mortality from coronavirus in April amounted to 11,861 people. At the same time, the total increase in mortality compared to the same period in 2019 is 15709.In London, in April, 3,589 people died with a diagnosis of coronavirus, while the total increase was 5531 Sixth, even if all the additional mortality for April in Moscow is attributed to coronavirus, the mortality from COVID will be slightly more than 3%, which is lower than the official mortality in New York and London (10% and 23%, respectively). Moreover, if you make such a recount in these cities, the mortality rate in them will be 13% and 32%, respectively. Seventh, Moscow is open for discussion and is ready to share experience with both Russian and foreign experts.

Content

I think community members would be interested in studying the data on mortality in the Russian capital themselves and conducting a competent statistical check.

This may be of particular interest in connection with that he [US announced a grant of $ 250 thousand to "expose the disinformation of health care" in Russia](https://www....