MOSCOW, January 15. /TASS/. There are almost 147 million people in Russia today, but the country has entered a tense demographic period, with birth rates falling again, Russian President Vladimir Putin said in his annual State of the Nation Address to the Federal Assembly on Wednesday.

"Today, we have almost 147 million people. However, we have entered a difficult, very difficult demographic period. Its specific feature is that, thanks to those measures that have been taken since the mid-2000s, we have been able to achieve positive results in demography and even, at some point, achieve a natural population growth. That’s why the number of schoolchildren is growing. However, families are now started by the small generations of the 1990s, the number of births is falling again. That’s the tenseness of the demographic period, which Russia is going through today," Putin said.

The Russian president noted that, according to preliminary estimates, the total fertility rate stood at 1.5 in 2019. "This is not enough for our country," he stressed.

The birth rate in Russia is falling again, families are being made by the small generation born in the 1990s, said Russian President Vladimir Putin on Wednesday in his annual State of the Nation Address to the Federal Assembly.

"Families are being created by the small generation of the 90s. The birth rate is falling again - this is the tense demographic period that Russia is going through today," the president said.

Accoring to Putin, the birth rate in the 1990s in Russia was worse than that in the Second World War times, families rarely had two children.

"To compare, [birth rate] in 1943 during World War 2 was 1.3, but it was even worse in the 1990s - in 1999 it dropped to 1.16. It is worse than in the Second World War times. Families with two children were rare then, people were even sometimes forced to put off having children," the president said.

He noted that the current negative forecasts are alarming. "By 2024, the fertility rate should reach 1.7," Putin recalled.

Putin said that low incomes of most households with children directly threatens Russia’s demographic future.

"Low incomes of most households, families is the most pressing issue, which directly threatens our demographic future. According to various estimates, households with children account for around 70-80% of families with low incomes," he said.