Продолжительность жизни населения северных регионов России: тенденции и резервы роста

Abstract

The article is devoted to the tendencies in life expectancy of population of the northern regions of Russia in the context of growth and regional convergence indicator in the early 2000s and possibilities for its further growth. The sources of information are the official Rosstat data. Life expectancy in the North has been found to be largely subordinate to the Russian-wide patterns of the regional convergence: the compaction of the northern constituent entities to the national average level occurred at both the top and bottom levels. Both the Khanty-Mansiysk and Yamal-Nenets Autonomous Districts experienced a significant decline, as did the gap in most regions with life expectancy below that of the Russian Federation. Only Kamchatka Krai and Magadan Oblast increased the lag, while maintaining group affiliation in the regional grouping in terms of life expectancy. The potential for the further growth in life expectancy in the North is being determined by the insufficient reduction in mortality caused by the circulatory system diseases and increase in the neoplasm mortality within the period of 2003–2019, and environmental and behavioral risk factors reflected in the differences in life expectancy in different settlements, its gender differentiation and the high level of mortality from external causes. The large difference in life expectancy between urban and rural areas makes the large potential in the northern regions except Murmansk Oblast and partly the Sakha Republic (Yakutia). Almost all northern constituent entities have a significant potential posed by the male under-representation indicator. Despite a significant rate of decline, external causes of death and their share in cause-related mortality are widespread in the North. With the exception of the Chukotka Autonomous District, within recent years, infant mortality rate in the North has been fairly good — it can no longer be considered as a potential for the life expectancy growth of population.