The relevance of the study is due to the growing role of external labor migration in the staffing of the Russian economy during the period 2022–2024. The research problem lies in identifying approaches to detecting the features of the territorial distribution of legal labor migrants and accordingly adjusting existing perceptions of migration flows based on official data on the employment of foreign workers in Russia’s regions. The aim of the study is to identify the flow of international labor migration carried out within the framework of legal labor relations and, on this basis, to provide quantitative estimates of the employment of foreign workers in the regions of the Russian Federation. The information source used was official tax reporting data, which, in contrast to migration registration indicators, allow for a comprehensive picture of the results of labor activities carried out on a legal basis in the regions of the Russian Federation. The main findings show that the highest concentration of foreign workers is in the economic centers of the federal districts, while there is a significant increase in the employment of foreign workers in the regions of the Far Eastern Federal District, both in terms of numbers and total migrant income. The data obtained expand the scientific understanding of the distribution of foreign labor resources in Russia and make it possible to take migration flows into account when shaping the demographic and social policies of the regions
Keywords
Labor migration, foreign workers, Russia, regions, demographic policy, migrant income, territorial distribution