Demographic sustainability in the regions of the steppe zone of Russia

The relevance of this study is due to the active dynamics of demographic processes and the changing views on sustainable development of territories. While population growth is not the sole priority, maintaining a high level of human potential and reducing the impact of negative factors are essential for improving the quality of society. The purpose of the study was to assess the dynamics of demographic sustainability in the regions of the steppe zone of Russia in the period of 2003-2022. The object of the study was 17 regions of Russia located entirely or partially in the steppe zone and identified on the basis of common natural and economic factors and location specifics. To assess the demographic sustainability of the regions of the steppe zone, an integral index was formed based on the indicators of demographic processes grouped by the main aspects of population movement. As a result, a change in the distribution of regions by the level of demographic sustainability over five-year periods was revealed. In general, there has been a positive trend in the steppe region. From 2003 to 2007, 9 regions of the steppe had a low level of demographic stability. By 2017, none of these regions remained in this category, moving instead into the category with an average level of demographic stability, with Chelyabinsk and Novosibirsk oblasts moving into the category of high demographic stability. But then the situation in the steppe zone worsened - by 2022, the level of demographic stability in 4 regions reached the lowest values and only 5 regions did not change the level of demographic stability. The influence of external factors (pandemic, geopolitical processes), which intensified by the end of the period under review, is obvious, that contributed to an increase in the death rate and migration outflow of the population.