Migration as a Source of Population Growth in the Capital Megalopolises of Russia in the Period between 1989 and 2010 Censuses

Abstract

This paper assesses the role of migration in forming the population of Moscow, Moscow oblast, St. Petersburg, and Leningrad oblast over the 22-year period between the censuses of 1989 and 2010. Data of the censuses and current vital statistics are used they are deemed more reliable than current migration statistics. Using indirect methods, the dynamics of age-sex structures, population aging, and the contribution of migrants to birth rates are estimated. It is shown that the specifics of migration in the main Russian megalopolises consist in a positive migration balance across almost all ages; shifts in the age structure occur in favor of the younger age groups of the able-bodied population, compensating for the effects of aging.