In the early 1990's in Russia, life expectancy dropped further than that of any developed country. Male life expectancy has fallen from 64 to 57. Female life expectancy there is 71. Infant mortality rose 15% between 1993 and 1995, and the death rate reached 15.6 per 1000 people, a nearly 30% increase since 1992. In 29 areas of Russia deaths outnumbered live births in 1992. Inadequate health services and environmental pollution were being blamed.
Life expectancy in the European Region slowly but steadily increased until the beginning of the 1990s, when a sharp decline in the NIS also caused the regional average for life expectancy at birth to decline somewhat. As life expectancy in the NIS began to increase again in 1995, the regional average also started to increase again from 1995.