Over the course of two years of war, the Belgorod region turned from a leading russian region into one of the worst. - research by “Layout”

The small regional center had once earned a reputation as a prosperous, well-groomed and quiet place to work or retire. In many respects, the Belgorod region was ahead of its neighbors in the Black Earth Region and most of the regions of the country, and in terms of migration growth per 1000 inhabitants, it was ahead of even Moscow.

Now the region shows the worst results in the country in terms of migration outflow, savings of citizens, business profits and many other development indicators.

People - the Belgorod region has become a leader in migration loss - the ratio of those who left and those who arrived in the region. And in terms of the increase in leaving residents, the region is second only to Moscow.

Money - The region dropped to the last place in the country in terms of the level of savings of citizens, while they began to consume less. This figure turned out to be less than official inflation. But in terms of rising food prices, the leading agricultural region has even surpassed Moscow.

Profits - Belgorod companies lost two-thirds of their profits compared to 2021- minus minus 64% in two years. In border Shebekino, revenue and profits fell for eight of the ten largest companies. Business lost clients and employees. Entrepreneurs complain about difficulties in paying salaries to employees.

This is only part of the data on the consequences of the war for the Belgorod region. But all of them do not show the full scale of losses. Layout spoke to local residents and analyzed dozens of indicators about the destruction of the economy and life in the region.

The Central Bank's data show that the Belgorod region did not fall into the two main categories of regions where the war significantly supported the economy and revenues. The Belgorod region is not among the key regions for the military-industrial complex, and there are hardly many contract soldiers (Chechnya, Dagestan, the annexed Crimea, Buryatia, Tyva, and the Altai Republic) in the region either.

The regime doesn't help. There is money for shelling, but not enough to help enterprises from consequences of shelling. And business are burdened further with part of the defense cost.

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