Despite large-scale government propaganda promoting “traditional values” and calls for earlier marriages and larger families, divorce rates in Russia are skyrocketing.
In 2024, there were eight divorces for every ten new marriages, according to Elena Mikhailova, advisor to the general director of the All-Russian Public Opinion Research Center (VTsIOM).
“The ratio of divorces to marriages has reached its maximum value. <…> Russia has now ranked third in the world for divorce rates,” Mikhailova said, as reported by TASS.
She attributed the trend to a long-term decline in the perceived value of marriage and noted that many citizens manipulate their marital status to qualify for state-provided social support.
Declining Marriage and Birth Rates
Statistics from Rosstat and the Moscow Times show that 689,800 couples were married in Russia between January and September 2024, a 5% decrease compared to the same period in 2023.
The number of marriages recorded in September 2024 was the lowest in 18 years, reflecting a steady decline since 2014.
This downward trend in marriages correlates with several economic and social factors:
The annexation of Crimea in 2014, which triggered Western sanctions.
A prolonged decline in real disposable incomes of Russian citizens, the longest since the 1990s.
Between 2006 and 2013, 1.1–1.3 million new families were formed annually in Russia. By contrast, the number dropped to 985,000 by 2016 and 945,000 in 2023.
The drop in marriages has also contributed to a declining birth rate, which hit its lowest level since 1999 in 2023, with only 1.264 million babies born—a third fewer than in 2014. In the first nine months of 2024, the birth rate fell by an additional 3.5%, totaling 920,200 children.
Putin’s Call for Larger Families
Russian President Vladimir Putin has repeatedly addressed the country’s demographic challenges. In late 2023, he called on citizens to have 7–8 children, referencing family norms from Ancient Rus.
“Having many children, a large family, should become the norm, a way of life for all peoples of Russia,” Putin said.
In January 2024, he urged citizens to create families as early as possible, and in June 2024, he emphasized that for the state, “there can be nothing more important than strengthening the family.”
