Demographic processes of the Carpathian region in the context of economic development of the territory

Abstract

Formulation of the problem. One aspect of the territory’s socio-economic development is its demographic development. It translates into a change in the quantity and quality of the population of the territory in a certain social context as a systemically important factor in social life. As of January 1, 2020, Ukraine had a population of 41 million. 732,800 people (not including the occupied territories), which is the historical minimum in the years of independence. This prompts a detailed study of the problem.

The article contains a spatial and structural analysis of the demographic processes of the Carpathian region as one of the indicators of the socio-economic development of the territory.

Methods. The analysis of literary and cartographic sources has been carried out. Mathematical methods have been used to calculate quantitative characteristics of demographic processes. Using ArcGIS software product was created a series of maps of the Real Wage Index in Ukraine of various time scales.

The purpose of the article is to highlight and analyze the demographic processes currently taking place in the Carpathian region in the context of the economic development of the territories, with a view to developing and implementing proactive measures, to be given priority in solving the problems of the economically active population in the territories under study.

Results. The problem of migration of the population is urgent for Ukraine. For a long time, our State has been the country of origin for the majority of migrant workers in Europe. The Carpathian region has specific features of migration compared to other regions of Ukraine. Between 2010 and 2018, the number of people living in the Carpathian regions as a result of migration increased by 17.3 thousand people. Internal population migration is urban in nature. Besides, the Carpathian region has become comfortable for living and for internally displaced persons as a result of the war in eastern Ukraine.

The top 5 countries receiving migration from the Carpathian region include Hungary, Germany, Poland, the Czech Republic and Slovakia. A comparative analysis of the sex and age structure of migrants from Ukraine showed that about 50 per cent of migrants were aged 20-35 and about two thirds of emigrants were men.

Active migratory mobility is typical of the rural areas of the Carpathian region. Overall, the Ukrainian village has lost more than 10 million people over the past 50 years as a result of migration processes. The proportion of rural dwellers in the total number of migrant workers in the Carpathian region is higher than that of urban dwellers, of whom 60-70 per cent are women.

Migration has led to an imbalance in the functioning of the employment system and the national labour market in Ukraine in general and in the region under study in particular. The average unemployment rate in the study region in 2019 is 8.8 per cent of the economically active population. As of 2020, the number of employed persons in Ukraine is 15,915,300. The total number of employed persons in Ukraine is 1,925,000.

Men predominate in the structure of the employed population, but more than 60 per cent of the unemployed are men. The largest difference between the employment rates of women and men is recorded in Zakarpattia and Ivano-Frankivsk oblasts (more than 15 per cent).

Despite a steady increase in wages by region of the country, the real wage index has been steadily declining. Moreover, in 2021, no region of Ukraine exceeded the State-wide level of the real wage index by more than 1 per cent.

Scientific novelty and practical significance. Prospects for further research include the establishment of effective mechanisms for population policy at the national level to combat the rural exodus, which is not aimed at increasing the birth rate, It is not enough to increase the attractiveness of rural areas to the habitation and productive economic activities of rural dwellers, especially young people.