Analysis of demographic trends in the far eastern region (on the example of the Amur oblast)

The current strategy for the development of the Far Eastern Federal District is based on maintaining the existing population in its constituent entities and overcoming the process of depopulation. The problems of shrinking demographic potential in the regions of the Far East have not lost relevance since 1991. The article is devoted to the main indicators characterizing the demographic potential of one of the Far Eastern constituent entities - the Amur Oblast. A comparative analysis of demographic indicators in 2016-2021 revealed, that despite the implementation of the national project “Demography”, it is not yet possible to change the current demographic trend in the region. There is a signifi cant decrease in the population due to natural loss, provoked, among other things, by the spread of the coronavirus infection COVID-19, low density of its location and depopulation of territories. Attention is focused on the Amur Oblast’s lagging in a number of demographic indicators compared to other regions of the Far East, such as extremely low life expectancy, high natural population loss, low birth rate and high mortality rate. These demographic features create a real threat to national security due to the border location of the constituent entity. The absence of demographic criteria in the regional programs, implemented in the region as part of the national project “Demography” was noted. We conducted a comparative analysis of the planned and actual indicators established by the concept of demographic policy of the Far East in 2021. As a result, it was revealed that the indicators laid down in the concept are overestimated in relation to the real situation of demographic potential in the Amur Oblast.