St. Petersburg's Population Decreased By 6.4% Since 1989

According to the latest Russian census 4.7 million people live in St. Petersburg, said State Statistics Committee Chairman Vladimir Sokolin at a press conference on Thursday. He told Rosbalt that the number of people living in the Northern capital decreased by 6.4% since 1989, the last time a census was taken. Sokolin said the decrease was 'natural,' where the level of the death-rate of the population exceeds the birth-rate level. Another reason for the decrease in the number of residents in the city on the Neva, was due to smaller migration rates than in other large cities. 'Of the thirteen Russian cities with a population of over 1 million people, only Moscow, Volgograd, Kazan and Rostov-on-Don experienced population increases,' he said. As a result of the process of 'natural decrease' the Russian population overall decreased by 1.8 million people since 1989, Sokolin said.