ABSTRACT
The article examines the current demographic trends in Russia as compared to population changes in the world and its major regions based on data from the Russian Federal State Statistics Service (Rosstat), Eurostat, and the UN Population Division. It is shown that in terms of a number of characteristics of population reproduction-low fertility, ageing population structure, natural population decline-Russia is quite similar to the developed countries group. However, Russia is behind many countries in reducing the mortality rate of the middle-aged and older population, especially in men, and, correspondingly, in life expectancy for all age groups, which results in a noticeable increase in natural population decline and in deformation of the sex structure of the population. The specifics of the age structure of the Russian population that have been formed by a number of demographic waves are such that changes in the number of births and in age group sizes come in waves; this trend will continue in the coming decades. The article also analyzes excess mortality in Russia during the COVID-19 pandemic in comparison with similar data for the European Union (EU-27) and compares healthy life expectancy estimates for Russia, the entire world, individual countries, and different groups of countries by income.