The impact of rural development on the economy of the federal districts of Russia

The article examines the impact of the level of rural development on the economy of the federal districts of Russia. Agriculture remains one of the key sectors of the economy for Russia, which is due to the historically established agricultural type of economy, as well as the availability of appropriate natural and climatic resources for the active development of agricultural production. However, the geographical features of the country, namely its territorial extent and the related differences in the natural and climatic characteristics of individual territories, form a different degree of agricultural specialization of the regions and, accordingly, determine an unequal level of economic development. The study analyzed the relationship between the share of the rural population and the main socio-economic indicators (average wages and poverty levels) in the federal districts of the country in the period 2016-2023. In the course of the study, a hypothesis was formed that the low level of economic development in rural areas hinders the economic development of individual territories of the country. It was found that there is a close correlation between the proportion of the rural population and the main socio-economic indicators: in districts with a higher proportion of the rural population, the average wage level is lower, and the poverty level is higher. The revealed patterns indicate that agriculture in the regions has a lower rate of development compared to other industries, which together statistically contributes to lower average values of basic socio-economic indicators. Smoothing out the remaining territorial imbalances both between and within economic areas and regions remains a priority strategic task and requires an integrated approach based on the inflow of investments into rural areas for the development of modern production and the formation of a comfortable social environment.