Socio-Economic Characteristics

2.2. Socio-Economic Characteristics

 
In relation to Eastern Europe as a whole, the Dnipro River Basin has a medium population density. The estimated population of the Basin at the beginning of 2001 was about 32.4 million, broken down by country as follows: 3.6 million within the Russian Federation; 6.3 million within the Republic of Belarus; and 22.2 million people within Ukraine. The level of urbanization is high, with about 69% of the Dnipro Basin population living in urban areas, characterised by intensive industrial activity, excessive exploitation of natural resources, and heavy anthropogenic load on the environment.

The average population density in the Dnipro Basin is 63 people/km², increasing in the downstream direction from 35.6 and 53 people/km² in the Russian and Belorussian parts of the Basin, respectively, to 76 people/km² in the Ukrainian part of the Basin.

 
The following major trends in demographic situation have emerged over the last decade, being characteristic for each riparian country and the Dnipro Basin as a whole:

- A decline in the total number of population and fall in birth rate;

- An increase in the urban population and reduction in the rural population.

 
Economic development in the region has followed a highly specific pattern, featuring high industrial density and concentration of heavily polluting chemical and metallurgical industries, and large agricultural complexes.

 
The collapse of production activity in the early 1990s and dramatic reduction of per capita GDP values have resulted in the deterioration of living conditions in all three countries. Following a long period of systemic socio-economic crisis, the economic situation has stabilised and started to manifest certain signs of growth since 2000, leading to a gradual improvement of living standards in the Basin. The following table presents some economic data for the riparian countries of the Dnipro Basin.

 
Economic growth rates in the Dnipro Basin countries in 1999 and 2002
 

 
The growth rates have been particularly high in the following sectors: the building material industry, food processing industry, light industry, and ferrous metallurgical and petrochemical industries. Small and medium-size businesses have started to play an increasingly important role in the regional economy.

____________________________________

[2]  Statistical Yearbook of the Belarus Republic. 2003. The Ministry of Statistic and Analysis of Belarus Republic

Next: Priority Transboundary Issues of the Basin

Previous: Physical and Geographical Characteristics