Analysis of Digital Consumption Practices in Russian Regions Based on the Index Approach

The aim of the study is to provide an index assessment of the spread of digitalization of consumption practices among the Russian population by age and region. Most existing approaches to assessing digitalization take into account access to the necessary infrastructure, but do not fully answer the question of the demand for digital consumption practices among the population, taking into account the age characteristics of consumers, level of education and digital skills, health, and other factors. The design of the index of digitalization of consumption practices is proposed, including relevant indices organized into five subindices: medical services and services of social organizations; consumption of goods and services; digital communications; education; environment. The relative weights of the indices and domains were determined using expert assessments. The highest weighting factor is assigned to the subindex “consumption of goods and services.” The index values were calculated using data from the Comprehensive Monitoring of Living Conditions of the Population for 2022. High rates of digitalization of consumption practices were found in the presented age groups in the Chukotka Autonomous Okrug and St. Petersburg, while the lowest rates were found in Zabaykalsky krai. The largest gap in the digitalization of practices between the age categories under 55 and over 55 years is observed in Nizhny Novgorod oblast and the Republic of Tatarstan (0.187 and 0.178, respectively); the smallest, in the Chechen Republic, Chukotka Autonomous Okrug, and the republics of Dagestan and Kabardino-Balkaria. In terms of federal districts, the greatest difference between age groups is observed in the Central and Northwestern federal districts (0.196 and 0.174, respectively). The identified uneven development of digitalization of consumption practices by domain and age can contribute to focusing regional policy on identifying the reasons for the lack of prevalence of practices and smoothing out interregional differences in access to the necessary infrastructure, which corresponds to the level of research on regional digital inequality.