Sobyanin: Life expectancy in Moscow reaches European levels

Life expectancy in Moscow has reached almost European levels to stand at 75.5 years old, Moscow’s acting Mayor Sergei Sobyanin said on Thursday. “Life expectancy in Moscow is 75.5 years. This is almost a European level despite the fact that the mortality rate statistics in Moscow is quite complicated,” Sobyanin went on to say. He explained that lots of people from other regions came to Moscow. They include migrants who bring a whole bunch of chronic diseases and problems. “This is true of all mega cities. We certainly have distorted statistics but despite that the average life expectancy in Moscow is quite high,” Sobyanin told the Ekho Moskvy radio station on Thursday. The acting mayor also noted that Moscow’s birthrate had exceeded the mortality rate for the first time over the past 20 years. He emphasized that Muscovites rather than migrants had formed that positive trend. “Statistics shows that they are Muscovites with two or three children. This has almost become normal," Sobyanin said. He added that Moscow had a system of support for families with many children, including one-time payments, utility and transport privileges. “If combined, it’s going to make a decent sum of up to 200,000 roubles a year (1USD is equivalent to 32.9 roubles).This is a big sum,” Sobyanin said.