Chechnya and Ingushetia recorded the highest fertility rates in Russia, according to research conducted by the Civic Chamber of Russia, a government formed consultative civil society institution, and the Sober Russia social movement. The three Russian regions with the lowest fertility were identified as Leningrad, Pskov, and Magadan oblasts.

According to the study, almost all of Russia’s central regions, including Tyva, Yamalo-Nenets, Tyumen, Khanty-Mansi, and Buryatia have high birth rates. The regions with the lowest fertility rates are almost all those with majority ethnic Russian populations, including Leningrad, Pskov, Magadan, Smolensk, Orlovsk, Bryansk, Volgograd, Tula, and Tambov oblasts, as well as Mordovia.

The report notes that high birth rates don’t always correlate with good conditions for large families. According to the research, the regions with the worst social conditions included Moscow, Irkutsk oblast, and leader in fertility — Chechnya.

According to the head of Sober Russia, Sultan Khamzayev, the demographic study was based on open sources and departmental data. According to him, the research will help to identify the regions where social conditions need to be improved with social programmes.