Russians Now Marrying Almost Three Years Later than They Did Only Four Years Ago, Registration Office Figures Show

Paul Goble

            Staunton, July 13 – Russians are now marrying for the first time almost three years later than they did only four years ago, data provided by the Russian government’s registration office shows, a pattern that means they are likely to have fewer children or none at all and that adds to the demographic difficulties that country is now facing.

            In 2021, the average age women first married was 30.7 and the average age men did was 32.8. Now those figures have risen to 33.2 and 35.3 respectively, registration office figures show (https://zags.nalog.gov.ru/analytics/marriage, rosbalt.ru/news/2025-07-13/v-rossii-postareli-molodozheny-5434979 and rbc.ru/society/13/07/2025/687382499a794745a0ff7a83).

            These increases reflect the impact of both the covid pandemic and Putin’s war in Ukraine as well as broader social trends, including a declining number of marriages generally. Last year, for example, there were only 44,000 marriages contracted in the Russian Federation, 7.2 percent fewer than the year before.

            But while childbirths outside of marriage are somewhat more common than they were, the decline in the number of marriages and the increase in the average age of first marriages almost certainly means that the number of children born in the Russian Federation will continue to decline, almost regardless of what policies the Kremlin introduces.