Despite the measures taken by the state regional policy for the rapid development of the Russian Far East, aimed at increasing the demographic potential, the downward curve still describes the demographic dynamics in most Far Eastern regions. The adoption of strategic development documents and the implantation of various kinds of institutional innovations do not lead to an improvement in the real situation to the level of formed expectations. The Khabarovsk Territory, which occupies the second largest population in the district, is no exception. Over three decades, the population of the region has decreased by more than 320 thousand people, most of whom have been lost as a result of migration outflow, which consistently exceeds the number of residents coming to the region. The article discusses the results of the demographic development of the Khabarovsk Territory over the past three decades. At the same time, the main emphasis was placed on the period of 2020-2021, which was the main blow of the pandemic of a new coronavirus infection. In two years, there has been a significant rollback in terms of the main planned indicators. Thus, the life expectancy of Khabarovsk residents decreased immediately by 2.2 years, and returned to the level of 2013. In the current conditions, there is still a need to update the directions and measures of the state policy pursued, not only due to the high deviations of real demographic parameters from the expectations laid down in the strategic development documents, but also taking into account the serious demographic failures that were provoked by the new coronavirus infection.