In 2022, the poverty rate in Russia dropped to a record low.

This is evidenced by the data of the Federal State Statistics Service published on Friday, March 10.

According to the department's calculations, from January to December, the number of Russians with incomes below the poverty line fell to 15.3 million, amounting to 10.5% of the country's population.

According to the results of the year, this share of the low-income population became the lowest for the entire post-Soviet period.

According to Rosstat, back in 2021, there were 16 million low-income citizens in Russia (11% of the population).

Moreover, if at that moment the poverty line was set at around 11,908 rubles, then by the end of 2022, the value increased to 13,545 rubles.

The “poverty line” parameter for the whole country is reviewed every three months.

The indicator is calculated on the basis of the subsistence minimum (PM) for the fourth quarter of 2020, taking into account the dynamics of price growth.

Previously, the authorities determined the level of poverty using the actual value of the subsistence minimum.

Meanwhile, since 2021, Rosstat began to use a new approach, since the methodology for calculating the PM itself has changed.

It should be noted that poverty in the country has been continuously declining for six years in a row.

Moreover, according to Russian President Vladimir Putin, in 2022 the positive trend continued even in the face of rising inflation and unprecedented external pressure on the economy.

The number of poor Russians was reduced largely due to state support measures for the population, Putin is sure.

For example, in 2022, a program for the issuance of benefits to needy families with children under 17 began to work.

In addition, pensions, the minimum wage and the subsistence minimum were indexed twice, as a result of which the volume of many social payments increased.

“It is important that in the current difficult economic situation there is such a definite positive trend.

It must be preserved,” the head of state stressed.

It was the shifts in the budget policy “in the social direction” that contributed to the reduction of poverty, especially in the regions.

Alexander Abramov, head of the Laboratory for the Analysis of Institutions and Financial Markets of the Institute for Applied Economic Research of the RANEPA, shared this opinion with RT.

“In 2022, we observed significant spending of budget funds for social needs, including spending on regional programs for the population.

We are also starting to gradually recover the level of people's incomes.

These are the key parameters that reduce poverty,” the specialist explained.

monetary incentive

As follows from the materials of Rosstat, in 2022 the volume of social payments in Russia increased by 1.85 trillion rubles compared to 2021 and amounted to about 16.37 trillion rubles.

According to Vladimir Putin, in the future the state will continue to implement large-scale socio-economic programs and plans aimed, among other things, at improving the well-being of citizens.

“We certainly have all the resources for this... It is necessary to build economic policy measures in such a way that they lead to an increase in real wages and incomes of people, and together with social support measures, primarily for families with children, ensure further reduction of poverty and inequality,” the Russian leader instructed.

  • kremlin.ru

It should be noted that from January 1, 2023, the minimum wage and PM were again indexed in Russia, and from February 1, the amount of maternity capital and a number of other social payments increased.

In addition, since the beginning of this year, the country has launched a universal allowance for families with children under 17 and needy women who are registered in the early stages of pregnancy.

In total, in 2023, the authorities are going to allocate more than a third of the federal budget funds to social spending.

This was stated in November by Chairman of the State Duma Vyacheslav Volodin.

“Support has been provided to servicemen participating in the special military operation and their families.

Additional funds have been found for the development of the village, regional road and transport infrastructure, urban public transport and key sectors of the economy,” the parliamentarian added.

In addition to government measures to support citizens, a general increase in the level of employment of the population also contributes to the reduction of poverty in the country.

Georgy Ostapkovich, director of the Center for Market Research at the Institute for Statistical Research and the Economics of Knowledge at the National Research University Higher School of Economics, expressed this point of view in a conversation with RT.

According to Rosstat, in 2022, unemployment in Russia decreased from 4.3% to 3.7%.

Moreover, already in January 2023, the value dropped to 3.6% - the lowest level in the entire history of observations.

“Now many foreign companies have left Russia, but they have vacated a niche for Russian organizations that are now actively creating jobs with a decent salary.

Poverty, in turn, always decreases precisely against the background of rising incomes and labor productivity,” Ostapkovich said.

realistic target

Back in 1992, the proportion of the poor in Russia was 33.5%, and in 2000 it was about 29%.

Thus, approximately every third inhabitant of the country was below the poverty line.

However, over the past time, the proportion of citizens in need has been reduced by a factor of three, and by 2030, the authorities plan to reduce this figure by another one and a half times, to 6.5%.

“It is bad, of course, that even 6.5% will remain, but we must proceed from the realities.

It's real, I think.

The goal is ambitious, but real,” the president said during a press conference in 2020.

According to Alexander Abramov, achieving the goal remains difficult, but "quite a realistic task."

In addition to increasing state support measures, the outlined plans can be achieved through further indexation of social payments to inflation, the active opening of social deposits by banks, as well as the extension of preferential loan and mortgage programs, the specialist believes.

Georgy Ostapkovich adheres to a similar assessment.

“These results can be achieved through financial assistance from the government to vulnerable groups of the population with low incomes and an increase in the number of jobs in the labor market.

The main driver of wage growth is the expansion of the economy.

Therefore, it is important for the government to achieve sustainable GDP growth,” concluded Ostapkovich.