The article presents the results of a numerical study of the influence of the theoretical head coefficients on the characteristics of a low-flow stage of a centrifugal compressor. The study was conducted in the Ansys CFX 19.2 software package. As a result of a numerical study, it was found that the drop in the efficiency of the compressor stage with an increase in the theoretical head coefficient is associated with a decrease in the efficiency of the stationary elements due to the increased absolute speed behind the impeller. At the same time, an increase in the theoretical head coefficient leads to a decrease in losses associated with the coefficient 1 + β_lk + β_fr, and therefore, an increase in the polytropic efficiency of the impeller is observed at values ​​of the theoretical head coefficient Ψt ≤0.64.