27 February, Minsk /Elena Prus - BELTA/. According to operational data, the population of Belarus as of 1 February this year amounted to 9,463,000 people. This was reported to a BELTA correspondent by Elena Kondratenko, press secretary of the National Statistical Committee. Compared to 1 January 2012, the country's population decreased by 2.2 thousand people. The population increased over the month only in Minsk - from 1,885.1 thousand people as of 1 January 2012 to 1,885.8 thousand as of 1 February of the current year. In the other regions of the republic, the population decreased in January. As a result, as of 1 February this year, the Gomel region had 1,429.2 thousand people, the Minsk region - 1,402.9 thousand, the Brest region - 1,391.1 thousand, the Vitebsk region - 1,213.4 thousand, the Mogilev region - 1,079.6 thousand, and the Grodno region - 1,061 thousand people. Belarus maintains a positive migration growth - it amounted to 476 people in January of the current year (in January, 1,311 people arrived in Belarus, and 835 departed). According to operational data, 8,739 children were born in Belarus in January of the current year - 353 more children compared to January 2011. The general birth rate for January in the republic as a whole was 10.9 per 1,000 inhabitants (in January 2011 - 10.1 per mille). Among the regions of the country, this indicator was highest in the Minsk (11.8) and Brest (11.5) regions, and lowest in the Vitebsk region (9.6). In Belarus, 11,365 people died in January - 409 fewer compared to January 2011. The general mortality rate in January was 14.1 per 1,000 population (in January last year it was 14.6 per mille). Among the regions of the country, this indicator was highest in the Vitebsk (16.9) and Minsk (15.9) regions, and lowest in Minsk (9.7 per mille).-0-

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