Russia must overcome racism to boost population: U.N.

By Amie Ferris-Rotman

MOSCOW (Reuters) - Russia's fast dwindling population could be boosted if the world's largest country overcame its xenophobic tendencies and took in more migrants, the United Nations said in a report presented on Friday.

"We're now at the peak of our demographical crisis... International migration could help fill in our gaps," Anatoly Vishnevsky, co-author of the report, told a media briefing.

Russia's population shrunk by more than 12 million between 1992 and 2008, taking its present population to just over 142 million, and is forecast to fall to around 131 million by 2025.

Health experts say key factors in the decline are poor diet leading to heart disease, heavy drinking among Russian males and the high incidence of violent deaths. The average Russian man lives for 60 years, 13 years less than the average American man.

The U.N. said on average women and men live to 80 and almost 72 respectively in the violence-ridden southern Russian region of Ingushetia, which is mainly Muslim and where alcohol consumption is relatively low.

The Kremlin, alarmed by the falling population, is trying to tackle the problem with initiatives such as family support packages and a road accident prevention scheme. Road accidents kill 100 people a day, President Dmitry Medvedev has said.

Russia's population slump in the last 16 years has been partially offset by the inflow of almost 6 million migrants, most of whom find work in construction and are from ex-Soviet republics, but more immigration is critical.

At an estimated 10 million, Russia hosts the world's second largest number of migrants after the United States, but racist crime and xenophobia remains a barrier, the U.N report said.