Russia is facing a labour shortage that will "likely lead to a reduction in the potential growth of the Russian economy and risks stoking inflation," the British Ministry of Defence (MoD) tweeted on Sunday.
Over the past three years, the Russian population has reportedly declined by 2 million more people than expected, the ministry said in its regular update on the war in Ukraine.
"Mobilization, historically high emigration, and an ageing and shrinking population is limiting the labour supply," it said.
Up to 1.3 million people left in 2022, including many younger and well-educated people in high-value industries. The Russian Ministry of Communications estimates that 100,000 IT workers, or 10% of the workforce in the sector, left in 2022 and did not return, according to the British MoD.
