The integral estimate of the population’s life quality in the regions of the Northwestern federal district

The article is devoted to the study of population’s life quality and its individual components. It emphasizes the relevancy of this issue taking into account modern development trends in the Northwestern Federal District regions. It is noted that in the context of the crisis the positive transformation has slowed down and become protracted for the recent few years. In this regard, the quantitative assessment of the life quality is reasonable, as it reflects key objective living conditions in a regional comparison.The life quality of the population is assessed by the methodology, developed by the specialists of Geography Department of Moscow State University, which consists in the construction of integral indices of life quality. The basis of these indices is their fractination into “crisis”, describing the basic components of life quality, and “full”, taking into account a wider range of indicators.On the basis of the calculated indices, the grades for each region of the Northwestern Federal District were assigned, thus making it possible to identify significant differentiation between them. In particular, there is some smoothing of the regions’ lag from Saint Petersburg by the life quality indicator. The article analyses the key factors affecting the life quality indices. The study results, presented in the article, lead to a conclusion that there are significant reserves for improving the life quality. Hence, it is proposed to focus on solving the problems, connected with the low level of real incomes of different population groups, as well as with insufficient provision of basic services.