The number of poor Russians in April-June decreased by 1.9 million

In the second quarter of 2023, the population with incomes below the poverty line (set at 14,184 rubles) amounted to 15.7 million people, or 10.8% of the country’s population, Rosstat reported. Compared to the same period last year, the share of poor Russians decreased by 1.3 percentage points (pp) or by 1.9 million citizens.

For the first six months of 2023, the number of Russians with incomes below the poverty line

decreased by 1.6 million people compared to the first half of 2022 to 17.3 million people. The poverty line in the first half of 2023 was at the level of 14,106 rubles, and a year earlier – 13,365 rubles.

“Poverty reduction was influenced by the implementation of targeted social programs aimed at the most vulnerable groups of the population, as well as the growth of wages and pensions,” commented a Rosstat representative.

Quarterly data on the level of poverty always show seasonality, emphasized Vitovt Kopytok, an economist and one of the authors of the project on statistics “To Be Precise”. Last year, the highest values ​​were in the first quarter (14.3%), the lowest in the fourth (7.9%), he explained. In addition, the method of calculation influences the estimation of the poverty level. From 2021, instead of the per capita subsistence minimum, Rosstat uses the “poverty line” — this is the subsistence minimum for the fourth quarter of 2020, adjusted for accumulated inflation. “This is a general figure, it takes into account the increase in prices for hundreds of goods – for example, technology and travel, which poor people usually cannot afford. But the cost of a basic set of products, which was previously taken into account when calculating the subsistence minimum, is growing faster, ”the expert specified.

At the same time, the poverty level in April-June 2023 decreased compared to the same period last year (by 2.5 percentage points), even if it is calculated using the old methodology. If Rosstat had calculated the poverty rate using the old methodology, in the second quarter of 2023 the poverty rate would have been approximately 12%, the specialists of “To be precise” calculated.

According to Kopytok, this is a good indicator, which shows that social support measures and income growth have played a role. “But if you look at the longer-term dynamics, then the reduction in the level of poverty is largely determined by a change in the calculation methodology,” the expert specified.

According to Rosstat, household cash income in the second quarter of 2023 amounted to 21 trillion rubles, an increase of 7.8% compared to April-June 2022. The growth of real cash income over this period amounted to 5%.

In May, Tatyana Golikova, during an expanded meeting of the collegium of the Ministry of Labor and Social Protection, stated that the situation with poverty in different regions is different, the Deputy Prime Minister emphasized, the figure varies from 4.5% in St. Petersburg to 30.5% in Ingushetia.Federal border poverty in 2022 amounted to 13,545 rubles, but the regions also have separate levels. Golikova added that by the end of 2022, Khakassia, Ingushetia, Adygea, Karachay-Cherkessia, Kalmykia, North Ossetia, Komi, the Orenburg region and the Nenets Autonomous Okrug did not achieve poverty reduction indicators. And in Ingushetia, Khakassia, Adygea and Tuva, its growth was recorded.

Including to solve this problem, the Ministry of Labor proposed from January 1, 2025 to bring the minimum wage (minimum wage) closer to the median salary. The department wants to increase the approved ratio of indicators from 42% to 48%. The relevant bill has been published on the regulation.gov.ru portal. The document also consolidates the previously announced indexation of the minimum wage by 18.5% from the beginning of next year.