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Coronavirus pandemic

Average life expectancy in Russia down by 3-4 years due to COVID pandemic — expert

This is the first time when life expectancy losses are bigger for women than for men, Sergey Ryazantsev revealed

MOSCOW, May 17. /TASS/. The coronavirus pandemic has shortened the average life expectancy in Russia by 2.8 years for men and 3.7 years for women, Sergey Ryazantsev, a corresponding member of the Russian Academy of Sciences and Director of the Institute of Demographic Research, Federal Research Sociological Center, Russian Academy of Sciences, said on Tuesday.

"The implementation of the demographic policy measures, which began in the mid-2000s, gave us quite a positive and successful dynamics and we have even approached the level of European countries, of Central and Eastern Europe, as a matter of fact. But, the pandemic has shortened the average life expectancy by 2.8 years for men and 3.7 years for women, having actually taken away 29% and 58% of the growth we managed to achieve previously," he said.

According to Ryazantsev, the pandemic has rebounded Russia by seven years for men and 13 years for women in terms of average life expectancy on 2014, to 2008. He noted that this is the first time when life expectancy losses are bigger for women than for men.

"In 2021, COVID took away about 467,000 lives in Russia and this is quite a big figure, which ranged geographically from 11% growth in Tyva to 50% in Ingushetia. The mortality rate in 2021 was bigger than in 2020 in 50 regions. The worst situation was in Eastern Siberia, North-Western regions and in several megacities," he said.

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