Number and age structure of the population of the Republic of Belarus
Natural dynamics of the population of the Republic of Belarus
POPULATION HEALTH AND HEALTHCARE SYSTEM IN THE REPUBLIC OF BELARUS
"Public Health of the Republic of Belarus", an official statistics collection, 2010
Health and demographic situation
The negative demographic trends of recent years have spiraled into a full-blown demographic crisis posing a serious threat to the national security. In order to reverse the negative trends and create preconditions for population growth, the President of Belarus passed Decree No. 135 on 26 March 2007 to adopt the National Demographic Security Program of the Republic of Belarus for 2007-2010.
Since 1994 Belarus’ population reduced by 863,900 people (or 8.4%) to 9.481 million as of the beginning of 2011.
The year 2004 marked an increase in the birth rate. In 2010 it made 11.4 births/1,000 population (11.5 in 2009). In 2010, 108,050 babies were born in the country (109,263 in 2009).
The death rate inched down from 14.5 births/1,000 population in 2005 to 14.4 births/1,000 population to 1,000 in 2010.
An aggregate indicator of public health is life expectancy at birth (the average number of years to be lived by a group of people born in the same year, if mortality at each age remains constant in the future). Belarus is at the very bottom of the top 100 countries in terms of life expectancy at birth. Compared with developed countries the figure is lower by 12-14 years in men and 5-6 years in women. The highest life expectancy was registered in 1964-1969 – 72.9 years. It declined in the 1990s. In 2003 the figure stood at 68.5 years. The life expectancy at birth has fallen from 77.2 years (1984-1985) to 76.5 years (2010) in women and from 68.9 years (1964-1965) to 64.6 years (2010) in men. In 2010, the life expectancy of men and women somewhat shrank compared with 2009 and made 70.4 years (64.6 years in men and 76.5 years in women). In 2009, the general life expectancy was 70.5 years (64.7 years in men and 76.4 years in women).
Mother and child welfare remains a major priority of the healthcare system in the Republic of Belarus. Since 1995, the infant mortality has been constantly declining. Since 2000, it has been under 10 deaths per 1,000 live births (which meets Target No. 3 of “the health-for-all policy for the twenty-first century” of the World Health Organization). In 2010, the figure stood at 4.0, which is among the lowest in the CIS. In 2006, newly born babies weighing 500-999g were also included in the infant and child mortality statistics. In 2010, the maternal mortality remained the same as in 2009 – 0.9 deaths per 100,000 live births.
In 1990-2007 the maternal mortality varied from 13.8 (1995) to 24.2 (2000) per 100,000 live births. In 2005 the figure rose to 15.5, in 2006 it dropped to 11.4. In 2008 the maternal mortality reached the average of developed European countries – 2.8 deaths per 100,000 births.
Since 1990, the number of abortions declined from 260,800 to 33,300 in 2010, and fell below the number of births. However, despite the sharp decline, the abortion rate remains very high.
In 2010 the number of births per 1,000 women aged 15-49 was 43.6 (43.5 in 2009); while the number of abortions per 1,000 women of the fertile age was 13.5 (17.9 in 2003).
