Increasing death rate

Recent studies indicate Russia is facing a demographic crisis due to a rising death rate and falling birth rate. It appears that Russian demographic indicators have dropped from those of a developed country to those of so-called Third World countries. Deaths in 1995 increased to 2.2 million from 1.4 million in 1989, while births in 1995 declined to 1.4 million from 2.2 million in 1989. A recent report of an advisory board to the president states that in 1995 Russia's death rate was higher than in any European or North or South American country, and higher than in most Asian and African states, while in 1989 death rates were at the average European level.