Socio-Demographic Aspects of Migration and Their Impact on the Sustainability of the Development of Southern Russian Regions

Introduction. The relevance of the study is due to the significant role of population migration in ensuring regional development. At the same time, the economic consequences of migration are largely determined by the characteristics of migration flows. The purpose of this article is to determine the impact of socio-demographic features of migration flows in the southern Russian regions on the indicators of their sustainable development. Materials and Methods. Methods of descriptive statistics were used in the analysis of socio-demographic characteristics of migration flows. To test the hypothesis about the impact of socio-demographic characteristics of migration flows on the sustainability of regional development, a correlation analysis of panel data using Excel tools was used. The source of the information was the data of the Federal State Statistics Service for the regions of the Southern Federal District, traced in dynamics from 2002 to 2021. Results. It is established that migration processes in the southern Russian regions demonstrate both positive and negative effects on individual components of their sustainable development. The strength and direction of this impact is largely determined by the socio-demographic characteristics of migration flows. A strong positive relationship between migration indicators and economic and environmental indicators of sustainable development is demonstrated for almost all regions. The impact on the social sphere is ambivalent. At the same time, there is a rather strong influence of the gender characteristics of migration flows on the socio-ecological aspects of life. Discussion and Conclusion. Migration will contribute to increasing the sustainability of the development of regional economies only while simultaneously solving the tasks of creating jobs, improving social conditions and preserving the environment. The findings emphasize the need for regional authorities to take into account the socio-demographic structure of migration flows when developing strategies for socio-economic development and can be useful in conditions of increasing geopolitical instability.