Russia's ageing population could plummet by more than 20 million in the next 40 years, the Standard & Poor's ratings agency predicted in a survey of global demographic trends Friday. The population is projected to fall to 116 million by 2050, from 140 million in 2010, due to a low birth rate, the agency said, warning that an increasing proportion of older people would put huge pressure on government spending.
"S&P promises Russia a poverty-stricken old age," news website Gazeta.ru headlined a story on the report.
President Dmitry Medvedev in December called Russia's falling population a "serious threat."
In its report, S&P predicted that the working-age population, calculated as those under 65, would fall to 60 percent of the total by 2050, down from last year's 72 percent. By the end of the period studied, the government will have to spend 25.5 percent of Gross Domestic Product on age-related expenses unless it carries out reforms, it said, with debt levels possibly rising to 585 percent of GDP.
"Further reforms are needed to put Russian public finances on a more sustainable path," the report said.
The country's population fell 6.4 million between 1991 and 2009. The federal statistics agency has predicted that the population could fall to less than 127 million by 2031, in a worst-case scenario.
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