Russia panic as population dwindles with women made interesting offer to have more babies

Russia is facing a population wipe out (Image: Getty)

Russia is facing a population wipeout, with the nation recording its lowest birthrate in 1999, the year before Vladimir Putin officially became president. The Russian leader has been grappling with the country’s declining and ageing population, with its population decimated by war and a plunging birth rate.

In a bid to combat this trend, Putin has launched initiatives to encourage people to have more children—from free school meals for large families to awarding Soviet-style “hero-mother” medals to women with 10 or more children. “Many of our grandmothers and great-grandmothers had seven, eight, and even more children,” Putin said in 2023. Let’s preserve and revive these wonderful traditions. Having many children and a large family must become the norm.”

Women are being offered incentives to have more children (Image: Getty)

The 'Mother Heroine' medal ranks alongside awards for bravery and services to the state. Recipients will receive a medal of a five-pointed star, the decree states.

However, to achieve this award, women must adhere to certain requirements. All 10 children must be alive, unless they died during military, official or civic service, or in a terrorist attack.

The children must have been given the “appropriate level of care for health, education, physical, spiritual and moral development,” the assessment process for which is not specified.

Data from last year shows that only 1.22 million births were recorded, the lowest annual total since 1999. And the birth rate is expected to continue falling to just 1.14 million by 2027, according tot Russia's official statistical agency, Rosstat.

Meanwhile, a Kremlin commissioned study carried out by RANEPA predicts that 129 small towns with a total population of 3.4 million people are at risk of disappearing.

Already over the past ten years, the number of residents in these towns has declined by 314,000. The population also is significantly older. In 1990, 21.1% was 55 or older, government data said. In 2024, that figure was 30%.

Deputy Prime Minister Tatyana Golikova told a meeting of Communist Party MPs that the number of child-bearing women would drop by 7 million by the year 2046 - from 34 million to just 27 million.

Some experts believe Russia is facing an existential crisis due to its catastrophic birth rates.

Colonel Tim Collins - a former British commander - told the UK Defence Review podcast last year that "Russia is dying" due to a "collapsing birth rate".