Demographics

Per the 1917 Irkutsk Province census, the population of the Oka district was 1.891 persons, of them 258 were Soyot; per the 1926 Census, the Oka district had 1.906 persons (161 Soyot); the 1932 expedition to the Oka banner recorded 2.082 persons (272 Soyot). In 1917, therefore, the Soyot accounted for 13.6 % of the population, 8.4% in 1926, and 13% in 1932. The 1932 expedition noted “certain ethnic instability among the Soyot where there were only 89 women per 100 men.” Children under 13 accounted for 28.3% of the Soyot population of the Oka district, 58.7% of them were men and women of employable age. An average family has four members.

Recently, the number of the Soyot have been growing steadily. The 2002 Census recorded 2.769 Soyot, the 2010 census recorded 3.608 Soyot, while the 2020 census recorded 4.368 Soyot. Recent years’ data indicate that the Soyot were Buryatia’s youngest residents. The average age of the people of the Republic is 35, while the average age of the Soyot is 5.8 years less, as Buryatia’s statistics reports. Additionally, while the censuses in the Republic of Buryatia generally recorded a drop in the numbers of employable population, indigenous small-numbered peoples demonstrate a reverse trend. The Soyot exhibit a 29.04% spike in the number of employable-age population. The nuptiality among the Soyot increased as well, while the principal ethnic groups in the Republic demonstrated a drop in the number of married people.

The 2022 data show that the Soyot have virtually equal numbers of men and women, 2.177 and 2.191, respectively. The Soyot are mostly rural residents living in the Oka district, with 4.083 persons (2.047 men and 2.036 women). The urban Soyot live mostly in Ulan-Ude and number 285 persons (130 men and 155 women).