Share of Elderly Varies from 9 to 29 Percent among Russia’s Federal Subjects, Data Show

Paul Goble

            Staunton, June 19 – Russia’s federal subjects vary widely on many measures, but one of the most important is the comparative size of the elderly cohort and the working-age population. In general, the elderly form a much larger share in predominantly ethnic Russian regions and hence a larger load on workers and much lower shares on both counts in Muslim republics.

            At the end of last month, Rosstat, the Russian government’s statistical arm, published data on the age structure of the populations of the federal subjects (rosstat.gov.ru/folder/13877); and now Demoscope.Ru has published an analysis of these figures (demoscope.ru/weekly/2025/01079/barom03.php).

            The share of the elderly – defined in this case as those above working age, varies from 9.4 percent in Ingushetia, a Muslim republic in the North Caucasus, to 29.2 percent in the overwhelmingly ethnic Russian Tambov oblast. In six federal subjects, all but two Muslim majority, it was under 14 percent; and in 13 ethnic Russian regions, it was 27 to 28 percent.

            The load that the elderly place on workers thus varies widely as well, from 149 per 1000 working-age people in Ingushetia, to 533 per 1000 workers in predominantly ethnic Russian Kurgan Oblast. In 18 of the federal subjects, all of which were predominantly ethnic Russian, the elderly “load” was 480 to 533 per 1000 workers.

            These demographic differences, rather than any specific “ethnic” agenda, mean that the imposition of any common policy on pensioners or healthcare have very different consequences for the various federal subject, something that should be reflected in government policies but typically is not.