Russian Prime Minister Mr Mikhail Kasyanov today said the country will encourage immigration to try and counter the dramatic slide in its population.
"We must formulate an immigration policy because of the demographic situation," Mr Kasyanov said.
"The country needs immigrants. We should consider how to encourage them to come [to Russia], how to regulate this flow, how to manage the labour market and help them to find jobs," the prime minister said.
"This policy should be clearly worked out so that these people feel protected," he said.
Russia last year had twice as many deaths as births, with a mortality rate of 15.5 per 1,000 - the highest level since the end of World War II and the highest in Europe.
Russian men live 59.8 years on average, compared to 72.2 years for women, and the divide is growing all the time, according to experts.
But the birth rate has plunged since 1987 to 1.17 children per woman of child-bearing age - far from the minimum level of 2.15 required for the population to reproduce.
The Russian population is forecast to lose another 11.6 million citizens over the next 15 years, bring it to 134 million, according to official statisticians.
AFP