Rapid demographic decline has been brought to a halt since the turn of the century (a time when coffins outnumbered cribs by seven to four), as generous government subsidies for a third child have boosted the fertility rate from its 1999 low of 1.16 children per woman to 1.58 in 2010. That is still far below the replacement rate of 2.1, but higher fertility, together with successful measures to reduce male mortality, has slowed the pace of population shrinkage.
考虑到俄罗斯的经济基本面，普京的支持率下降似乎令人吃惊。国际货币基金组织预测，2011年及今后几年，俄罗斯经济将增长4%，虽然远远落后于中国和印度，但却遥遥领先于富裕的G7成员国的平均增长率。此外，只要油价仍然维持在每桶110美元以上，俄罗斯就能够实现预算平衡。