Income and prosperity: Are Russians better off than before?

The Russian statistics authority Rosstat published a study on income inequality in Russia in the spring. In it, Rosstat calculates the coefficient of income inequality, which indicates the financial gap between the richest 10% and the poorest 10% of Russians. The study "Socio-economic situation in Russia" shows that the income gap between rich and poor widened to 15.8 times in 2025 - in the previous year, the gap was 15.5 times. The 10% of the population with the highest income will account for around 31% of total income - an increase of half a percentage point on the previous year. The poorest Russians accounted for 2% of total income, an increase of 0.1 percentage points on the previous year. When calculating income, the authorities take into account not only income from employment, but also income from assets and social benefits. Shift in income: more high earners In the study, the analysts divide the Russian population into ten income classes. The lowest class (Group I) has a per capita income of up to 7,000 roubles a month, the equivalent of 80 euros, while the highest (Group X) has an income of more than 100,000 roubles, 1142 euros. This group accounted for 22.3% of the total population last year - this is a significant increase compared to 2024, when 16.7% of Russians had more than 100,000 roubles monthly income. This shift makes income class X the most widespread in Russia, according to Rosstat. In 2024, Russians with an income of between 27,000 and 45,000 roubles (308 and 514 euros) still made up the majority (24.1%). Inequality on the rise In the latest study, Rosstat does not provide any information on the Gini index, which measures the inequality of income distribution. The Gini coefficient, named after the Italian statistician Corrado Gini, ranges from 0 to 1. Zero corresponds to a completely equal distribution, one to a complete concentration in one population group. In an international comparison, the inequality of income distribution in Russia is in the middle range. According to the World Bank, the Gini index in Russia was 0.351 in 2021, with similar values in Thailand (0.349) and the Ivory Coast (0.353) in that year. In the "golden 2000s", inequality in Russia reached its temporary peak when the Gini index stood at 0.422 in 2007. By comparison, the index was 0.289 in 1992. In 2023, the Gini index in Russia was 0.405 according to Rosstat, in 2024 it was 0.408 and in the first nine months of 2025 the index was already at 0.411. For Germany, the Gini index was 0.293 points two years ago. After the start of the Ukraine conflict in 2022, the index fell by 2.7%, which was related to the extensive sanctions against the Russian elite. The index has been growing again since 2023. Although the financial situation improved for almost two thirds of the Russian population between 2022 and 2025, the better-off are enjoying the greatest income growth: Group X recorded a nominal income increase of 8% to 183,000 roubles in the first quarter of 2025 compared to the same period of the previous year. In the adjacent income group IX, there was an increase of 7% to 102,000 roubles. In the remaining income groups, the average increase in income was 6.5%. Eternal duel: wages vs. inflation The average salary in Russia has grown enormously over the past five years: from 57,244 roubles (653 euros) in 2021 to 100,360 roubles (1146 euros) in 2025. However, numerous economists warn that this soaring salary should not be seen as a clear indicator of greater prosperity. Many salary increases primarily serve to compensate for inflation, which is why real income growth is more modest. According to Rosstat data, cumulative inflation since 2005 is 352.51%. This means that prices have risen 4.5 times over the past two decades. Historically, inflation and wage growth have balanced each other out. For example, the annual inflation rate in Russia in the 2000s was between 9% and 20% per year, while wages rose by 22% to 46% per year due to the strong economy, explains Olga Belenkaja, chief analyst for macroeconomics at the investment holding company Finam. This allowed consumers to cope better with various price increases on supermarket shelves, explains the analyst. After 2008, real income growth slowed down and even fell between 2014 and 2017. Since 2021, growth in average wages has overtaken price increases again, the expert concludes. Median instead of average When calculating the average wage, statisticians rely on company data. The average value is calculated from the total of all salaries, which in turn is divided by the number of employees. The salaries of higher earners can greatly distort the overall picture. More meaningful than the average salary is the median salary, which lies exactly in the middle of all salaries. This means that 50% of people earn less than the median income and 50% earn more. According to Rosstat data, the Russian median salary in April 2025 was 73,400 roubles (838 euros) and therefore significantly lower than the average wage of just over 100,000 roubles (1140 euros). Some go away empty-handed However, not all population groups are benefiting from the general rise in income. According to Finam analyst Belenkaja, pensions, for example, are lagging behind wage increases and only compensate for inflation when they rise. Economic researcher Oleg Abelev from the investment company Ricom-Trust believes that inflation compensation is not a common practice. A large proportion of Russian citizens who have worked for a company for years do not receive a salary increase for years or receive a symbolic 3-5% on top of their salary, which does not cover inflation and actually means a loss of income, Abelev points out. The minimum salary in Russia is currently 27,093 roubles (308 euros). Russia has one of the lowest poverty rates in the world: at the beginning of 2026, it was 7.4%, which equates to 10.8 million people. Rosstat sets the official poverty line at 16,863 roubles (192 euros). However, this figure has been raising eyebrows for some time. Critics consider the current poverty line to be questionable because the minimum expenditure of Russians is much higher; This article first appeared in the exclusive newsletter of the German-Russian Chamber of Commerce Abroad The post Income and prosperity: Are Russians better off than before? appeared first on ostwirtschaft.de.