Real cash incomes of the population of Russia

Poverty in Russia

Main article: Poverty in Russia

Salaries in Russia

• Salaries in Russia

2022

Income gap of 10% of richest and poorest families reduced to 9 times

In 2022, the difference between the incomes of the richest and poorest Russian families decreased from 10.3 to 9 times. This is evidenced by the data Rosstat released in January 2024.

As RBC writes with reference to the materials of the department, in 2022 the 10% of the most wealthy Russians earned an average of 101.2 thousand rubles. monthly, while 10% poor Russians - 11.1 thousand rubles.

It is noted that on average, the richest citizens receive more social benefits than the poorest (9.4% of all deductions against 6.3%). as for pensions, the richest Russians account for 10% of the total amount of payments, and the poorest - 3.7 percent. In the case of benefits and compensation, the ratio is the opposite: the least well-off households receive 14.7% of their total volume, and the most well-off - half as much (7.6%).

The main source of income for all groups under consideration is labor: salary or income from independent activities, including entrepreneurship. At the same time, the richest residents, labor activity brings 91% of income, and the poorest - 56.9%. The richest households receive from entrepreneurship on average about 23 thousand rubles a month against 2.2 thousand rubles a month from members of the poorest households.

The considered 10% of wealthy Russians received 26.7% of all income in the country, the second group accounted for 2.9%. In 2021, these indicators were 27.1% and 2.6%.

Rosstat allocated families with children to a separate group: in 2022, their average income amounted to 84.1 thousand rubles. per month, or 25.1 thousand rubles. per family member. According to Rosstat for the second quarter of 2022, the 10% of the richest Russians accounted for 30% of all income. At the same time, 10% of the poorest Russians received only 2% of total income.^[1]

How income inequality affects Russia's GDP

The growth of inequality in the income of citizens negatively affects the country's GDP - its pace slows down as the gap in the income of Russians increases. This is the conclusion reached by the economists of the Bank of Russia, who published their study at the end of June 2023.

As RBC writes with reference to the materials of the Central Bank, the authors of the report made calculations based on a number of indicators of the economy and inequality in Russia, including data on Russian regions. The analysis showed a negative impact of high inequality on the dynamics of gross regional product (GRP) per capita over long-term, medium-term and short-term time horizons. Authorities in Russia need to take into account the negative impact of high inequality on production dynamics both in the development and implementation of social policies and in macroeconomic forecasting, the authors write. Their opinion is personal and does not reflect the position of the Central Bank, the newspaper notes.

According to Rosstat, the Gini index (shows the degree of income inequality between different groups of the population; the closer the figure to 0, the smaller the inequality, the closer to 1 - the higher) from 1995 to 2020 changed from 0.387 to 0.406. However, since 2010, the coefficient as a whole has decreased and reached 0.396 at the end of 2022 - the lowest value since 2000.

Dmitry Skrypnik, a leading researcher at the CEMI RAS, stressed that the phenomenon of inequality is one of the main threats to economic growth - the income gap affects the willingness of the population and business to invest. At the same time, in the current conditions of the sanctions crisis, this factor becomes especially significant, since "in fact there are no other sources of growth other than domestic investment and trust." According to the expert, one of the main tools for reducing inequality is the progressiveness of taxation.^[2]

1% year-on-year decrease

In 2022, against the background of the conflict in Ukraine, the real disposable income of Russians decreased by only 1%, follows from the data of Rosstat.

1.7% decline over 9 months

The fall in real incomes of Russians in the third quarter of 2022 accelerated to 3.4%, follows from the report of Rosstat. In January-September, real incomes decreased by 1.7% compared to the same period last year.

2021

Record rise in living standards over 8 years

The standard of living in Russia in 2021 has grown at a record in 8 years, Rosstat reported in the final report "On the socio-economic situation" of the country.

In 2021, according to the statistical department, the population received income in excess of half of national GDP - 69.9 trillion rubles. Compared to 2020, revenues increased by 6.5 trillion rubles.

On average, citizens lived a year by 39,854 rubles per month, which is 10.5%, or 3787 rubles, higher than in 2020.

Real disposable income (that is, the amount that remains on hand taking into account inflation and all mandatory payments) increased by 3.1%, an amount that official statistics have not seen since 2013.

This increase compensated for about a third of the drop in living standards, which continued almost non-stop after the annexation of Crimea and the start of the sanctions war with the West: in 2014-20, people became 10% poorer.

The average salary in Russia in January-November 2021 jumped by 9.5%, to 54,588 rubles a month. The acceleration of inflation, however, "ate" two-thirds of this increase, leaving only 2.8% of growth in real terms.

The distribution of money before the elections, on which the federal budget spent 700 billion rubles, allowed Rosstat to report on the growth of pensioners' incomes - by 4.1% in real terms.

Real incomes of Russians in the 1st quarter fell to the level of 2009

53% of Russians have incomes below 27 thousand rubles per month

As of March 2021, 53% of Russians have incomes below 27 thousand rubles a month. A new record of the debt burden of Russians has been achieved. People owe banks more than 11% of their income.

2020: Rosstat: Real incomes of Russians fell by 3.5%, 19.6 million Russians live below the poverty line

Real disposable cash income of Russians (income minus mandatory payments - taxes and fees, interest on loans, etc., adjusted for inflation) in 2020 fell by 3.5% after an increase of 1% in 2019, according to Rosstat data . The Government of the Russian Federation expected a decline of 3%.

At the end of 2020, the real incomes of Russians lagged by 10.6% of the level of 2013 - the last year of sustainable income growth.

Real disposable income of Russians fell to the level of 2010.

Against the background of a decline in real disposable income, the number of Russians living on incomes below the subsistence level reached 19.6 million people, or 13.3% of the total population.

Rosstat: Real incomes of Russians in 2020 fell by 3.5%

In 2020, the real disposable incomes of the population decreased the most in the second quarter - by 7.9%. In the third quarter, the rate of decline slowed down (to 5.3%), in October-December they amounted to 1.7%. In the first quarter, an increase of 1% was registered.

As RBC writes with reference to Rosstat data, the purchasing power of cash income in 2020 decreased: if a year ago it was possible to buy, for example, 99 kg of boneless beef on the cash income of the average Russian, then in 2020 - 94 kg. The equivalent of average income in liters of milk decreased from 510 to 486 liters, in apples - from 339 to 284 kg, frozen fish - from 174 to 166 kg,

The publication notes that the real disposable income of Russians in 2020 could fall even more if it were not for the continued growth of real wages at medium and large enterprises in the public and corporate sector. The salary segment observed by Rosstat consists of budgetary organizations and large companies that practically did not limit their activities during the pandemic. It is the salary that makes up the lion's share of families' incomes: salaries account for about 58% of the money income of the population according to data for 2019, the publication says.^[3]

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