Assessment of migration situation in the Vologda oblast (at the level of municipalities)

Russia has been facing depopulation since 1990, and this trend is continuing nowadays. The Northwestern Federal District (NWFD) is no exception here. From 1990 to 2014, its population decreased by almost 11%, while in Russia as a whole - by 3.5%. Natural population decline was registered in all regions of the NWFD in 2010. The situation has improved only by 2013, but natural increase was achieved only in the Komi Republic, Murmansk Oblast, and Saint Petersburg. A general trend of population decline in the NWFD in 2010-2013 was interrupted by a slight increase that was caused to some extent by migration processes. The Vologda Oblast is among the regions with natural population decrease (-1.2‰), which makes it important to study migration, a driving force of the region’s demographic development. The aim of this work is to assess the migration situation in municipal formations of the Vologda Oblast. For this purpose, the author chose a set of indicators that help identify main trends in demographic processes, analyze the situation in the territorial entities of the region. The analysis reveals the municipal areas with favorable and unfavorable migration situation. It shows the relationship between migration processes and the level of socio-economic development of territorial entities. At the same time, the author distinguished several municipal areas that are favorable from the economic point of view, but that are experiencing migration outflow. This indicates the presence of other migration factors that require further study.