Socio-economic development of regions of the Russian Federation: problems and trends

The article examines the process of dynamics of differentiation in the socio-economic regional development of the economy, which intensified during the period of economic reforms in the post-Soviet period. Regional economies in the period under review from 2011 to 2020 demonstrated high sensitivity and a sharp decline after the introduction of the first wave of economic sanctions and the slowdown in economic processes against the backdrop of the new coronavirus infection pandemic. Conducted analysis of statistical indicators of socio-economic development of regions of the Russian Federation 2011-2020 allows us to talk about the presence of a high level of asymmetry in the development of regions. As a result, the differentiation of GRP per capita values in the regions of the Russian Federation for 2011-2020 was revealed, as was the emerging trend of a slight reduction in regional disparities. A study of the main socio-economic indicators of 2020 was carried out for federal districts (in % compared to 2011), and groups of regions were identified that in 2020 showed the best and worst results by type of economic activity. The results indicate that, despite the decline in economic indicators of the Russian Federation in 2014-2015, the economies of many regions have demonstrated rapid recovery from external shocks. Despite this, there remains a significant imbalance of development between different regions, which is based on the economy’s orientation toward the export of resources. The level of GRP per capita in regions rich in natural resources is 17 times higher than the level of other subjects, and the number of those lagging behind is 3 times higher than prosperous regions in Russia. Throughout the entire period under review, fluctuations in these ratios remain virtually unchanged. All this is a source of tension in society, increasing social discontent and, as a consequence, narrowing the range of means of state regulation.