Modern features of population reproduction in the Far Eastern Federal District

The article considers the problems of demographic development in the Far East. The need for the development of the Eastern territories is designated among the four main strategic priorities of the state policy, which determines the geopolitical problem of fixing of the population in the region. The population growth rate is shown until the 1990s is superior in comparison with the Russian indicators. The role of migration flows in the dynamics of the population of the region in Soviet and post-Soviet periods is investigated in detail. The attention is focused on the formation of negative balance of migration in cooperation with the Russian regions in the period after 1991 and the positive situation in migration processes with CIS countries and far abroad. It is noted that the main reasons for out-migration from the Far Eastern region is inequality in socio-economic development compared to the Russian national level. Examples of correlations of real and nominal wages and the value of pension provision for residents of the Far East and Russia as a whole are given and the index of social well-being of the subjects of the region is presented. The analysis of natural reproduction is done and it is shown that beginning from 2012 the natural reproduction of the population reach a positive value for the first time in the post-Soviet era. At the same time it is noted that only four out of nine subjects in the region show positive dynamics for this indicator. Data on the Far Eastern excess fertility at lower mortality rates relatively to the national average is presented. It is noted that there is an ongoing process of transformation and these figures are approaching the national average. It is revealed that the birth rate in the region at present does not even follow simple reproduction of the population. In the short term the situation may become more complicated due to the reduction in the population of women in reproductive age due to their birth in the period of fertility decline. The structure of the region's population was analyzed by major age groups during the period between all-Russian population censuses from 2002 to 2010. There was a marked reduction in the proportion of persons younger than able-bodied and of working age and greater than the national average growth in the number of residents above working age. A forecast of population in the Far East based on the analysis of dynamics of indicators of natural and migration processes is presented.