RuEn

Journal section "Social and economic development"

The Impact of the Pandemic on Demographic Processes in the Russian Arctic

Smirnov A.V.

Volume 14, Issue 6, 2021

Smirnov A.V. The impact of the pandemic on demographic processes in the Russian Arctic. Economic and Social Changes: Facts, Trends, Forecast, 2021, vol. 14, no. 6, pp. 258–274. DOI: 10.15838/esc.2021.6.78.15

DOI: 10.15838/esc.2021.6.78.15

Abstract   |   Authors   |   References
Russia has achieved a high level of Internet connectivity and the use of digital technologies; this helps to accumulate and systematize huge amounts of population data. Modern challenges, such as the COVID-19 pandemic, require a more prompt and detailed analysis of the demographic situation. Understanding the information collected by digital platforms and services can improve the quality of decision-making and be widely used in science and management. The aim of our study is to assess the change in the demographic situation in the Russian Arctic under the influence of the pandemic, with the use of new sources of population data that have emerged as a result of digitalization of the economy and public life. The article proposes an outline for the formation of a demographic knowledge base by combining traditional population statistics with data from digital platforms. We consider advantages and disadvantages of new data sources, features and examples of their application. We provide a detailed description of demographic processes in the Arctic Zone of the Russian Federation in 2020–2021 with the use of municipal statistics, data from Yandex online platforms and international pandemic databases. With the help of the proposed outline, we consider the dynamics of morbidity, mortality and vaccination against coronavirus infection. We study the reaction of the population of the Russian Arctic to the pandemic by analyzing the structure of search queries and the intensity of movement in city streets. We reveal the specifics of the spread of COVID-19 in the Arctic and estimate the impact of the pandemic on the natural population change and human mobility in the Arctic Zone. We calculate excess mortality at the regional and municipal levels. Based on the vaccination rates, we draw conclusions about the prospects for further development of the pandemic. The results obtained can be used for development of socio-demographic policy measures and construction of demographic forecasts for the Northern and Arctic territories

Keywords

migration, russian arctic, pandemic, vaccination, Russian Arctic, digital footprint, excess mortality, data sources

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