Spatial development of the Russian Far East: demographic and socio-economic factors

Abstract

The article presents analysis of the trends in the demographic development of the regions of the Russian Far East and the processes that directly and indirectly determine preservation of the human potential of the macroregion. Multidimensional analysis allows us to assess the objective opportunities for successful development of both the macroregion as a whole and its separate territories, including those within the framework of the current State national programs. The dynamics of population in combination with its low density and shortage of labor resources significantly affect the socio-economic development of the regions in the district. Socio-demographic indicators (migration balance, healthy life expectancy, share of citizens adhering to a healthy lifestyle) and socio-economic indicators (dynamics of monetary income / consumer spending and investment in fixed assets per capita) allowed us to identify the main trends of recent years in the development of the Far East regions. It was found out that the majority of regions belong to the most depopulating territories in Russia with critical indicators of the level of self-preservation behavior, with the current dangerous trend of migration losses (primarily in the working-age population), with low values of the life expectancy index. It is necessary to conduct a differentiated economic policy in the macroregion. The characteristics of differentiation of the situation in the macroregion, shown in the article, may contribute to development of a set of tools to deal with the situation in each region of the Far East. Since the main cause of the unfavorable demographic trends is the lag of the real living standards of the population behind the national average, the necessary measures of administrative action are: financing of social infrastructure in the macroregion; ensuring high social standards for families of professionals; providing a competitive level of education and conditions for development of the system of training and retention of personnel; effective functioning of regional economic clusters; development of small and medium-sized businesses.