26 October, Minsk /BELTA correspondent/. According to operational data, the population of Belarus as of October 1, 2011, was 9,468,000 people, reported Elena Kondratenko, press secretary of the National Statistical Committee, to a BELTA correspondent. Compared to January 1 of the current year, the country's population decreased by 13,200 people. The population reduction is due to the excess of deaths over births by 20,953 people, with a positive migration gain of 7,771 people (in January-September, 12,900 people arrived in Belarus, and 5,129 departed). The population increased over the nine months of the current year only in Minsk - from 1,864,100 people on January 1 to 1,873,800 people on October 1. In the other regions of the republic, the population decreased in January-September. Thus, as of October 1, the Gomel region had 1,431,600 people, the Minsk region - 1,408,200, the Brest region - 1,393,200, the Vitebsk region - 1,215,400, the Mogilev region - 1,082,500, and the Grodno region - 1,063,300 people. In Belarus, 80,934 babies were born in January-September of the current year, which is 115 more than in January-September 2010. The general birth rate for the nine months across the republic was 11.4 per 1,000 population (in the same period last year, it was also 11.4 per mille). Among the regions of the country, this indicator is traditionally highest in the Brest region (12.6 per mille) and lowest in the Vitebsk region (10). In January-September, 101,887 people died - 537 fewer than in January-September 2010. The general mortality rate for the nine months across the republic was 14.4 per 1,000 population (in the corresponding period last year, it was also 14.4). Among the regions of the country, this indicator is highest this year in the Vitebsk region (16.4) and lowest in Minsk (9.8). Infant mortality (children under 1 year of age) decreased in Belarus from 3.9 per 1,000 births in January-September 2010 to 3.8 per mille in January-September 2011. -0-

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