 As of 2018, the total fertility rate (TFR) across Russia was estimated to be 1.57 born per woman, one of the lowest fertility rates in the world, below the replacement rate of 2.1, and considerably below the high of 7.44 children born per woman in 1908.Subsequently, the country has one of the oldest population in the world, with an average age of 40.3 years.Nevertheless, Russia's overall birth rate is higher than that of most European countries (13.3 births per 1000 people in 2014 compared to the European Union average of 10.1 per 1000), though its death rate is also substantially higher (in 2014, Russia's death rate was 13.1 per 1000 people compared to the EU average of 9.7 per 1000).