Regional features of youth migration in Russia

Abstract

In the article, based on the statistical data of Rosstat, a spatial analysis of the poorly studied modern youth migration in Russia at the level of its regions is considered. The key research methods are cartographic and geoinformational. For the construction of cartograms, the QGIS geoinformation system was used, which allows to process large amounts of information, create databases, and perform high-quality evaluation and analytical studies. The spatial database within the framework of the work is designed to collect, organize, store and update data on youth migration in Russia. There have been constructed several background cartograms that reflect the regional features of the migration mobility of young people in Russia for the first time. To build these cartograms, the coefficients of migration growth, arrival and departure of young people for 2017–2019 and 2020–2021 were calculated (taking into account the number of young people from 14 to 29 years old), as well as grouping the values into four groups of different intensity (ultra-high, high, medium and low). To determine the reasons for the migration of young people, the map “Share of youth in the population of Russian regions in 2020” was also developed. The main trend of recent years is the growth in the number of Russian regions with a migration increase of young people (up to 74 %), which has a beneficial effect on the sustainability of the demographic development of the state and its regions. This trend has intensified during the covid-19 pandemic. The concentration of young people is observed in the most successful regions of Russia in socio-economic terms. A quarter of the constituent entities of the Russian Federation is characterized by a migration loss of young people, which has a negative effect on the demographic development of the territories. The developed cartographic software made it possible to correctly visualize the regional features of youth migration in Russia.