Socio‐economic indicators of demographic disadvantage in the Altai Krai

The urgency of the problem of demographic disadvantage is due to the need to minimize and overcome the accelerated depopulation of the Russian population, which is the main threat to the national security of the country. The significant heterogeneity of Russian territories requires differentiated regional solutions to demographic problems. Altai Krai is an agro‐industrial border region, the aggregate of such territories accounts for about seventy percent of the territories of the Russian Federation. Object. Demographic disadvantage of the Altai Krai. Subject. Economic and social determinants of the deterioration of the demographic well‐being of the population of the region, provoking the rapid depopulation of the region in 2018–2024. Aim. Analysis of socio‐economic indicators of high mortality rates, declining birth rates, and significant natural population decline. Methods. Theoretical analysis, analysis of current regional statistics of economic indicators, sociological survey, regression analysis of the data obtained. Results. Systemic determinants of depopulation in the region were identified, and indicators of the population reproduction crisis were analyzed. It is concluded that the basic reasons for the decline in the population of the Altai Krai are the low standard of living, lack of employment prospects, stimulating the growth of migration to the central regions of the country. The accelerated aging of the population in the region, the increasing imbalance between the male and female populations, the trend of an annual decrease in the birth rate, an increase in mortality, including people of mature working age, contributes to the growth of disadvantage of the Russian region. Statistically significant factors provoking depopulation in the region were: rural type of settlement (p≤0.001); excessive income differentiation (p≤0.001); tolerant attitude towards deviations, including self‐destructive practices (p≤0.006). Low social satisfaction with the processes of life in the region requires a revision of the directions of socio‐economic policy in the region, systematic efforts to improve the quality of life in the region.