Population change
| Region | rate as inhabitants |
| North-west | -0.9 |
| Central | -0.9 |
| Central Black Earth | -0.8 |
| Volgo-Vyatka | -0.7 |
| RUSSIAN MEAN | -0.6 |
| Volga | -0.5 |
| Northern | -0.5 |
| Urals | -0.4 |
| West Siberia | -0.4 |
| Far East | -0.3 |
| East Siberia | -0.3 |
| North Caucasus | -0.2 |
| Source: Regiony Rossii [Russian Regions], 1996; Sotsialno-Ekonomicheskoe Polozhenie Rossii [The Socio-Economic Situation of Russia], 1, 1997. (Calculated). |
Population is relevant to an economy, because labour is a major factor of production, but its specific significance depends not only on the total population but also on the proportion of the population in the active labour force as distinct from in school or retirement, and the forms of employment (e.g. agriculture, industry or services), and in the productivity of employed individuals and the value of their output.
There is thus no consensus about the optimal population: the United States and India and China have had population explosions over past decades, whereas in some European countries low birth rates imply the long-term shrinkage of the population and a change in its composition. Zero population growth is a target endorsed by some ecologist groups.
In almost all OECD countries there is a small annual rate of population increase; the overall aberage is 0.7 per cent per annum from 1995/96, and in European Union countries, 0.3 per cent. However, in the Russian Federation the population contracted by 0.6 per cent. This is a function of relatively low life expectancy, a low birth rate and little inward population migration characteristic of societies in economic difficulty.
Population is decreasing in every region of Russia, but not at esactly the same rate. It is 0.3 per cent higher in the North-west and Central regions than in the country as a whole, and lowest in the most remote regions, such as the North Caucasus.