Demographics of Belarus

The demographics of Belarus is about the demographic features of the population of Belarus, including population growth, population density, ethnicity, education level, health, economic status, religious affiliations, and other aspects of the population.

Population

The population of Belarus suffered a dramatic decline during World War II, dropping from more than 9 million in 1940 to 7.7 million in 1951. It then resumed its long-term growth, rising to 10 million in 1999. After that the population began a steady decline, dropping to 9.7 million in 2006–2007. Originally a highly agrarian country with nearly 80% of its population in rural areas, Belarus has been undergoing a process of continuous urbanization. The rural population saw its share of the total population decrease from 70% in 1959 to less than 30% in the 2000s.

Life expectancy at birth

Period	Life expectancy in Years
1950–1955	60.71
1955–1960	66.32
1960–1965	69.11
1965–1970	70.37
1970–1975	70.51
1975–1980	70.41
1980–1985	70.14
1985–1990	71.35
1990–1995	69.44
1995–2000	67.42
2000–2005	67.83
2005–2010	69.25
2010–2015	72.15

Total fertility rate (TFR) in Belarus by region and year

Region	2024	2017	2016	2015	2010	2005
Belarus	1.08	1.54	1.73	1.72	1.49	1.25
Minsk	0.69	1.06	1.21	1.24	1.25	1.08
Vitebsk Oblast	1.13	1.45	1.63	1.62	1.42	1.19
Mogilev Oblast	1.25	1.65	1.85	1.83	1.49	1.25
Gomel Oblast	1.20	1.72	1.93	1.89	1.55	1.28
Grodno Oblast	1.19	1.75	2.03	1.96	1.63	1.30
Brest Oblast	1.41	1.89	2.10	2.06	1.73	1.45
Minsk Oblast	1.14	1.94	2.16	2.18	1.72	1.37

Vital statistics

Belarusian provinces of the [Russian Empire]

The figures below refer to the uyezds of the five governorates of the Russian Empire whose administrative centers are now part of modern-day Belarus.

	Average population	Live births	Deaths	Natural change	Crude birth rate	Crude death rate	Natural change
1900	6,886,000	301,000	170,000	131,000	43.7	24.7	19.0
1901	7,020,000	295,000	180,000	115,000	42.1	25.6	16.4
1902	7,143,000	313,000	169,000	144,000	43.8	23.6	20.1
1903	7,290,000	285,000	182,000	104,000	39.1	24.9	14.2
1904	7,423,000	297,000	181,000	116,000	40.0	24.4	15.6
1905	7,546,000	286,000	184,000	101,000	37.9	24.4	13.4
1906	7,688,000	293,000	162,000	131,000	38.1	21.0	17.0
1907	7,809,000	293,000	149,000	144,000	37.5	19.0	18.5
1908	7,986,000	280,000	158,000	122,000	35.0	19.7	15.3
1909	8,138,000	295,000	161,000	134,000	36.2	19.8	16.4
1910	8,272,000	286,000	173,000	113,000	34.6	21.0	13.6
1911	8,382,000	293,000	156,000	137,000	35.0	18.6	16.4
1912	8,554,000	299,000	146,000	154,000	35.0	17.0	18.0
1913	8,725,000	288,000	156,000	131,000	33.0	17.9	15.1
1914	8,962,000	298,000	163,000	135,000	33.2	18.2	15.0

After WW2

Population and migration statistics:
* Data as of the January 1, 2025. Data as of the July 1, 2025 are to be released.

Current vital statistics

BelStat did not provide official birth data between 2020 and 2024. However, according to BelStat the number of inhabitants age 0-4 has declined from 550,147 in January 1, 2019 to 388,693 in January 1st, 2024, a 29.3% decline in five years. BelStat issued official statistics in 2025 for the first time since 2020 showing that there were 58,938 births in 2024.

Structure of the population

Age group	Male	Female	Total	%
Total	4 351 473	5 061 973	9 413 446	100
0–4	270 610	255 488	526 098	5.59
5–9	288 068	273 160	561 228	5.96
10–14	259 437	246 882	506 319	5.38
15–19	234 423	221 344	455 767	4.84
20–24	228 635	219 413	448 048	4.76
25–29	305 775	310 546	616 321	6.55
30–34	388 316	392 937	781 253	8.30
35–39	367 695	381 356	749 051	7.96
40–44	325 233	345 140	670 373	7.12
45–49	302 148	337 685	639 833	6.80
50–54	289 385	333 961	623 346	6.62
55–59	319 173	385 127	704 300	7.48
60–64	292 835	387 326	680 161	7.23
65-69	202 723	310 845	513 568	5.46
70-74	123 837	219 468	343 305	3.65
75-79	67 798	160 061	227 859	2.42
80-84	55 715	164 022	219 737	2.33
85-89	21 467	80 001	101 468	1.08
90-94	7 173	31 583	38 756	0.41
95-99	966	5 300	6 266	0.07
100+	61	328	389	<0.01
Age group	Male	Female	Total	Percent
0–14	818 115	775 530	1 593 645	16.93
15–64	3 053 618	3 314 835	6 368 453	67.65
65+	479 740	971 608	1 451 348	15.42

Migration

Year	Immigration	Emigration	Net Migration
1994	53,135	56,465	-3,330
1995	34,866	35,071	-205
1996	31,902	22,539	+9,363
1997	31,417	16,709	+14,708
1998	33,182	13,247	+19,935
1999	30,830	13,238	+17,592
2000	25,943	13,812	+12,131
2001	23,355	14,270	+9,085
2002	18,939	13,378	+5,561
2003	18,146	12,986	+5,160
2004	14,642	12,510	+2,132
2005	13,031	11,082	+1,949
2006	14,124	8,498	+5,626
2007	14,155	9,479	+4,676
2008	17,413	9,268	+8,145
2009	19,892	7,643	+12,249
2010	17,169	6,866	+10,303
2011	17,510	7,610	+9,900
2012	18,040	8,712	+9,328
2013	19,435	7,792	+11,643
2014	24,941	9,219	+15,722
2015	28,349	9,855	+18,494
2016	21,038	13,098	+7,940
2017	18,961	15,087	+3,874
2018	24,601	15,239	+9,362
2019	34,846	20,976	+13,870
2024	42,250	32,762	+9,488

Note: Data for 2020 to 2023 is unavailable.

Ethnic groups

Prior to the Second World War

Prior to World War II, Jews were the second largest ethnic group in Belarus, and at 400,000 in the 1926 and 1939 censuses they even exceeded the number of Russians. Jews accounted for 7%–8% of the total population at that time, comprising more than 40% of the population in cities and towns, where Jews and Poles were the majority, while Belarusians mostly lived in rural areas.
The Poles were the fourth largest ethnic group in Byelorussian SSR, before World War II, comprising 1–2% of the population in the pre-war censuses.

After the Second World War

The Holocaust decimated the Jewish population in Belarus, and after World War II, in 1959, Jews accounted for only 1.9% of the population. Since then, Jewish emigration to Israel and other countries reduced the number of Jews to 0.1% of the population.
After the war, a large number of Poles were forced to move to Poland. In exchange, Belarusians from the former Belastok Region, which was returned to Poland in 1945, after being occupied in 1939 were displaced to Belarus. Due to changes in the western border of Belarus and Poland after World War II, the number of Poles in Belarus increased to more than 500,000 according to the first post-war census and to about 400,000 according to the 1999 census. Poles are now the third largest ethnic group in Belarus. There are around 15,000 of Lipka Tatars and about 10,000 of Ruska Roma.
In the post-war period Belarus experienced an influx of workers from other parts of the Soviet Union, for example Russians and Ukrainians. The decade after independence saw a decline in the population of most of these minority groups, either by assimilation or emigration. The most significant exception to this trend has been a continued net immigration of Armenians and Azerbaijanis, whose numbers increased from less than 2,000 in 1959 to around 10,000 in 1999.

Languages

Belarusian and Russian are the official languages according to the Constitution of Belarus. The constitution guarantees preservation of the cultural heritage of all ethnic minorities, including their languages. Russian, and not Belarusian, is the dominant language in Belarus, spoken normally at home by 71.3% of the population. Major cities such as Minsk and Brest are overwhelmingly Russian-speaking.

Religion

According to 1997 estimates, 80% of the religious population belonged to the Eastern Orthodox Church and the others are mainly Roman Catholic, Greek Catholic, Protestants, Muslims, and Jews.
Figures for 2020 state that 78% of the population have a Christian background. Of the rest, almost 22% are non-religious, with a very small number of Jews and Sunni Muslims.