Poverty in Russia

Population of Russia

Main article: Population of Russia

Russian economy

Main article: Russian economy

Real cash incomes of the population of Russia

Main article: Real cash incomes of the population of Russia

Homeless people in Russia

Main article: Article:Homeless people in Russia

2023

12.2 million people live below the poverty line in the Russian Federation. Regions

At the end of 2023, 12.2 million people lived below the poverty line in Russia, which is 8.3% of the country's total population. Such data are contained in the materials of Rosstat, which TAdviser got acquainted with in mid-January 2025.

The poverty line in 2023 is defined as income below 14,339 rubles per month. The maximum level of poverty was recorded in the Republic of Ingushetia - 27.7%. In the Republic of Tuva, the figure is 23.5%. A high value was noted in the Karachay-Cherkess Republic - 20.6%. The lowest figure is observed in the Yamalo-Nenets Autonomous Okrug - 3.6%.

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Фото: Freepik

It is reported that in 2022 the poverty rate in Russia as a whole was 9%, and in 2021 - 11.1%. During these years, 13.3 million and 16.4 million people lived below the poverty line, respectively. Thus, in 2023, the situation improved.

Acting General Director of the All-Russian Research Institute of Labor Vladimir Smirnov notes that the decrease in the number of poor people was the result of a positive situation for applicants in the labor market and social policy. In the structure of citizens' incomes, labor incomes and social benefits to the population play the greatest role. Targeted social support measures also contributed to poverty reduction: they include the introduction of a single benefit for families with low-income children and pregnant women.

Another support measure is a social contract - an agreement between social security authorities and a person or families whose income, for reasons beyond their control, is below the subsistence level established in the corresponding region. At the same time, money is allocated to create favorable conditions for getting out of poverty, for example, for training. Recipients of assistance undertake certain obligations - to find a job, open their own business, etc.^[1]

Rosstat estimated the level of poverty in Russia at a record low 8.5%

At the end of April 2024, Rosstat published an adjusted estimate of the poverty level in Russia: the figure was 8.5% instead of the previous 9.3% and turned out to be a record low.

According to TASS, citing materials published on the Rosstat website, the poverty rate in the Russian Federation at the end of 2023 decreased by 0.5 percentage points compared to 2022.

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Фото: Unsplash

This assessment confirmed the current trend towards reducing poverty, - comments the acting general director of the All-Russian Research Institute of Labor Vladimir Smirnov. - 8.5% is the lowest poverty rate in modern history. Wage growth, especially in the real production sector at the level of basic workers, a decrease in the unemployment rate lead to an increase in citizens' incomes and have the potential to further reduce poverty.

And about. The general director of the All-Russian Research Institute of Labor added that additional measures may be required for certain groups of the population in subsequent years.

From the materials of Rosstat it follows that the lowest level of poverty in 2023 was recorded in the Yamalo-Nenets Autonomous Okrug - 3.6%, St. Petersburg - 4.4%, and Moscow - 4.5%.

Ingushetia became the leader in poverty among the regions of Russia, in 2023 in the republic citizens with incomes below the subsistence level in 2023 amounted to almost 28% of the population.

CMAKP expert Igor Polyakov, in a conversation with Kommersant, noted that the results of 2023 show that the goal stated by Vladimir Putin in his message to the Federal Assembly - to reduce the poverty level to 7% by 2030 - is quite realistic. According to the expert, in the future, thanks to an increase in the minimum wage (minimum wage) by 10% from January 1, 2024, the impact of income from the labor market on the poverty level will grow.^[2]

Rosstat: 13.5 million people are below the poverty line

As of the end of 2023, 13.5 million Russians are below the poverty line in the Russian Federation against 14.3 million people a year earlier. This is evidenced by the data of Rosstat, published on March 6, 2024.

As Kommersant notes with reference to the materials of the department, the number of Russian residents with incomes below the subsistence level in 2023 turned out to be a record low in the entire history of Rosstat observations. According to experts from the All-Russian Research Institute of Labor, this is due to the introduction of benefits for families with children, as well as a lack of personnel.

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Фото: Rosstat

Another reason for reducing poverty in a conversation with RBC was named by Alexander Safonov, professor at the Financial University under the government. According to him, the decision was affected by the decision that the minimum wage should be higher than the subsistence minimum by 3 percentage points. in 2023-2024, as a result of which employees with minimal salaries were withdrawn from the poverty border. In addition, as Safonov added, the special military operation of the Russian Federation in Ukraine influenced: both through the remuneration of workers in the military-industrial complex and monetary allowances for the military, and through compensation payments to the families of the dead and wounded.

According to Rosstat estimates, the poverty rate in Russia at the end of 2023 was historically the minimum 9.3% after 9.8% in 2022. In October-December 2023, the poverty rate was 6.8% (in the fourth quarter of 2022 - 7.9%), in July-September 2023 - 10.2% (10.5%), in April-June 2023 - 10.8% (12.1%), in January-March 2023 - 13.5% (14.3%). The poverty level indicator has a pronounced seasonal character - the maximum in the first quarter and the minimum in the fourth quarter (due to payments of bonuses at the end of the year), Interfax notes.

The average poverty border in 2023 was 14,339 rubles - people with a monthly income below this level are recognized in statistics as poor.^[3]

Reducing poverty to 9.3% is a record low

The poverty rate Russia in 2023 was 9.3% against 9.8% a year earlier. This was Governments of the Russian Federation Tatyana Golikova announced by the deputy chairman at the end of February 2024 at a meeting of the Council on the guardianship of the social sphere.

As noted by Interfax, the poverty level is calculated as the share of the population with incomes below the subsistence minimum as a percentage of the total population.

According to the data Rosstat (most relevant by February 29, 2024), in the third quarter of 2023, the poverty border in Russia amounted to 14,392. ruble The population with incomes below the poverty line was 14.8 million people, or 10.2% of the country's residents. This is 0.5 million less people compared to the third quarter of 2022.

According to Rosstat, an active social policy of the state and the implementation of targeted social support measures, in the implementation of which assistance is provided to the most vulnerable groups of the population, contribute to reducing poverty. In addition, the increase in wages and pensions affects, according to the department.

On February 29, 2024, Russian President Vladimir Putin, during his message to the Federal Assembly, admitted that the problem of poverty in the country remains acute, it concerns more than 9% of the Russian population and about 30% of large families. The head of state stressed that in general, the fight against poverty is "not an easy task" and is systemic, multi-vector in nature.

Therefore, I repeat once again, it is important that all the measures that we take in this area, all the tools that we use, are effective and effective, give a tangible real result for people, for our families, "Putin said (quoted by TASS).[4]

2022

Below the poverty line - 9.8% of the population

In 2022, about 9.8% of citizens were below the poverty line in the Russian Federation. This was reported in early May 2023 by RBC with reference to Rosstat. This figure is a record for modern Russia - since 1992, the percentage of people below the poverty line has never dropped below 10%. The total number of poor in Russia in 2022 reached 14.3 million people, which is 1 million less than the previous estimate of the department. At the same time, the closest values ​ ​ were recorded in 2012: then 10.7% of Russians, or 15.4 million people, belonged to the poor.

Thanks to financial support from some groups of the population, it was possible to reduce the differentiation of citizens in terms of income to 13.8 times compared to 15.2 times in 2021. This indicator is the lowest since 1998, also follows from the data of Rosstat.

According to the national development goals of Russia, by 2030 the poverty rate should decrease to 6.5% of the population. If we compare with 2017, then twice.

The record low poverty level recorded by Rosstat is primarily due to an increase in the number of social benefits aimed at supporting the poor, economist Alexander Abramov told Vedomosti.

This is the result of a social contract between the state and the population. Usually it is not opportunistic in nature and is quite long in time. You cannot stop helping children from poor families if you have previously admitted that they need this help, "he said.

Professor of the Department of Labor and Social Policy of the RANEPA Liubov Hrapylina believes that the approach to assessing the level of poverty in Russia should be more comprehensive. According to her, the indicator "poverty border" can hardly be called convincing, since it analyzes only income and does not include expenses. This approach makes it lopsided and does not allow us to draw unambiguous conclusions about the dynamics of poverty in the country, she emphasizes.^[5]

Reducing the number of Russians below the poverty line to 15.3 million after increasing benefits from the state

The number of Russians below the poverty line has been declining since the spring of 2022, Bloomberg wrote in January 2023. The rise in social benefits raised the real income of the 10% of the poorest by almost 14%, making them the only group whose incomes outstrip inflation. The poorest are getting smaller.

The number of Russians with incomes below the poverty line in 2022 amounted to 15.3 million - Rosstat.

2020

Poverty level in Russia fell to a minimum since 2014 (17.8 million people) - Rosstat

According to the data, the number of Rosstat poor Russians at the end of 2020 amounted to 17.8 million people, which corresponds to 12.1% of the total population of the country. Compared to 2019, the share decreased by 0.2 percentage points (in absolute terms, the decrease was 300 thousand people).

Citizens whose incomes are below the subsistence minimum established by the Ministry of Labor - 11,329 rubles are considered poor in Russia.

According to RBC, in 2020, the level of poverty in the Russian Federation turned out to be the lowest since 2014, when it was 11.3%. The World Bank in December 2020 expected that the level of poverty in Russia should have grown to 14.2% of the population by the end of the year, if not for the compensatory anti-crisis measures of the authorities.

Rosstat linked the decline in poverty with an increase in the average per capita cash income of the population (from 34.7 thousand in the third quarter to 42.5 thousand rubles in the fourth), an increase in the average monthly nominal accrued salary (from 49 thousand to 56 thousand rubles) and old-age pensions (from 15 966 rubles to 16 790 rubles).

President Vladimir Putin set the government the task by 2024 to reduce the level of poverty in Russia by half compared to 2017, to 6.6%. However, against the background of the COVID-19 coronavirus pandemic, the head shifted the deadlines for fulfilling this requirement to 2030. In the second quarter of 2020, when the most stringent quarantine restrictions were in effect in Russia, the number of Russians with incomes below the subsistence level reached 19.9 million, or 13.5% of the country's population.

Specialists from the Higher School of Economics found that in 2020 the number of families without children living below the poverty level more than doubled during the pandemic - from 3.8% to 8.3%. The financial situation of families with children has changed little through government financial support.^[6][7]

Only 6% of Russians are malnourished

2019: One in four children in Russia live in families below the poverty line

Almost one in four children in Russia live in families below the poverty line. Such data was presented by Rosstat in the annual bulletin "Socio-economic indicators of poverty." The statistics cover the period until the end of 2019, when the average poverty rate in Russia was 12.3%. In families with children, this figure is almost 2 times higher and reaches 23.6%. Moreover, in 2019 it grew by 0.7%, and compared to 2013 - by 4.5%.

The highest level of poverty is in large families. Almost every second child in this group (48.3%) is below the subsistence level of 11.2 thousand rubles. In families with more than three children, 48% live below the poverty line. In families with two children, one in five children - 21.5% - are among the poor. At the same time, among children under 3 years old, the poverty rate reaches 39.5%.

Even higher is the average poverty rate for children living in rural areas. It reaches 44.5%, and in small settlements (up to a thousand people) exceeds 50%. In young families, every third child lives in poverty (32.5%). Almost the same level of poverty among children in single-parent families is 30%.

1923

Two families of confectionery factory workers take a corner in the room. Petrograd. Russia. 1923

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