Economic potential of the regions of Belarus: size, structure, specialization, level of economic development

The article is devoted to the study of the size and structure of economic potential, the definition of economic specialization and the calculation of the level of economic development of the regions of Belarus, including: administrative districts and their functional-hierarchical groups (areas of the economic core, economic semi-periphery and periphery), as well as socio-ecological and economic areas formed in the country on the basis of the largest urban centers and not having an official administrative status. It is revealed that the structure of economic potential is one of the factors influencing the efficiency of economic development of the country’s regions. By implementing a systematic transformation of the structure of economic potential to the reference, i.e. inherent in the most successful areas for a particular functional-hierarchical type, it is possible to significantly increase the level of their economic development. All functional-hierarchical types of regions of the country face the task of developing the tertiary sector of the economy in order to increase their level of economic development. Achieving this key objective is possible through the development of small and medium-sized businesses and improving the standard of living of the population of all regions of Belarus.