Аннотация:The main strategic goals for the development of the economy of Russia and its regions
should be the improvement of the quality of life of the population, the balance of the social and
economic activity of the territories, and the increase of its competitiveness in the domestic and
foreign markets. Taking into account the important role of water resource provision of the
country's economy, the Water Strategy of the Russian Federation was developed, which sets
out the targets to be achieved in water use by 2020. In this document, the water resources as a
component of the country's innovative development estimated by the integral indicator - the
water-intensity of the gross domestic product (GDP), and for the region's characteristics - by
the gross regional product (GRP). The indicator - the water intensity of GDP / GRP contains
two parts: 1 - the amount of water resources in the region, the federal district or the Russian
Federation as a whole, reflects the natural component of these territories; 2 - the value of
GDP/GRP for the country as a whole and its regions, characterizes the state of their economy.
It is determined in the Water Strategy of the Russian Federation that the water intensity of the
country economy equal to an average amount of 2.4 m3 / thousand rubles in 2007 is
unacceptably high. The main task is to reduce it to 1.4 m3 / thousand rubles till 2020.
The paper assesses the current state of water resources and their use in Russia and its
regions. The dynamics of the water intensity of Russia and the sectors of the economy that
determine its economy have been revealed. Estimates of the water intensity of economy of
federal districts and constituent entities of the federation are obtained. Prospects of reducing
the water intensity of the economy, diversification and development of the Russian economy
are shown.
Keywords: water intensity,