The top five regions in terms of quality of life in 2019 included St. Petersburg, Moscow, Belgorod, Moscow and Voronezh regions. The “Best Regions for Life” rating was prepared by the National Credit Ratings agency (NKR) jointly with RBC media holding.
It is noted that the “Best Regions for Life” rating is an attempt to rank regions not by traditional indicators of economic potential or investment activity but by a number of indicators affecting the quality of life of Russians living in a particular area.
Analysts have chosen ten indicators to assess regions, including the level of purchasing activity, affordability of housing, the ability of the population to maintain loans, the level of official employment, availability of sports and cultural facilities, housing. The climate was also taken into account.
Saint-Petersburg was ranked first in the rating, and its superiority over Moscow was due to the low result of the capital in terms of affordable housing.
The Moscow region has taken the second place in the rating due to its deep integration with the capital.
The third place in the ranking was occupied by the Belgorod Oblast which has placed its bets on the development of agriculture. It has the highest score in terms of housing affordability, high indicators of retail trade turnover and savings rate among the population. The climatic factor made a significant contribution to its position in the rating.
The outsiders of the NKR rating following the results of 2019 were the Republics of Tyva, Karachayevo-Cherkessia, Altai, Jewish Autonomous Region, Kalmykia, Ingushetia and Khakassia. Mari El, Buryatia and Kurgan region are among the ten lagging regions.
The main reasons for the appearance of Tuva, Karachay-Cherkessia and the Republic of Altai on the positions of the worst regions in terms of quality of life are extremely low consumer activity in the region, high overdue loan debt of the population and low level of deposits.
The quality of life in the regions was assessed based on data from Federal State Statistics Service, Federal Tax Service and Bank of Russia. The rating, which records the well-being of the population in the regions before the pandemic crisis, is to be updated annually.
Source: rbc.ru