In Russia, the poverty level may decrease from 9.3% of the country’s total population to 8% in 2024. This forecast was given to socialbites.ca by the candidate of economic sciences, associate professor of the Basic Department of the Chamber of Commerce and Industry of the Russian Federation “Human Resource Management” at the Russian University of Economics. GV Plekhanova Lyudmila Ivanova-Shvets.
So, by the end of the year, the number of low-income Russians may drop from 13.5 million to 12 million.
“A rate of up to 8% is quite realistic. The number of low-income citizens largely depends on social benefits, the increase in the minimum wage and the decrease in unemployment. “Only in 2024, social payments were indexed, the minimum wage increased by 18.5 percent and the unemployment rate is currently at its lowest level,” he said.
According to him, in general, both nominal and real income of the population in Russia is increasing.
“In addition, inflation has remained at low levels since the beginning of the year. If inflation does not increase during the year, this will contribute to both reducing poverty and increasing income. Therefore, we can expect the poverty level to decrease further,” Shvets concluded.
According to Rosstat, by the end of 2023, the number of Russians with income below the poverty line reached 13.5 million people, that is, 9.3% of the country’s total population. This rate is lower than in 2022, when the poverty rate reached 9.8 percent. According to Rosstat, the poverty line reached 14,754 rubles per month in the last quarter of 2023. On average for 2023, this figure was 14,339 rubles, compared to 13,545 rubles in the previous year.
previously economist appreciated Rosstat data on income growth of Russians.