The real incomes of Russians have increased over the year, but they are still less than ten years ago. The Russian edition of The Moscow Times writes about this.
► Subscribe to the Ministry of Finance telegram channel: main financial news
In 2023 real incomes of the population increased by 5.4%, this does not take into account inflation and mandatory payments. In nominal terms, per capita income increased by 10.9% and amounted to 50,265 rubles.
The main reasons for income growth are the personnel crisis and a decrease in inflation. Unemployment last year set a historical record – 2.9% in the fall (3% in December), companies in all industries are complaining about a shortage of workers.
In general, the need for workers is at a historical high, and the gap between supply and the demand for labor is minimal. Therefore, wages are growing at a rapid pace, noticeably faster than productivity growth and inflation.
The slowdown in inflation from 11.94% in 2022 to 7.42% in 2023 also affected real incomes: social payments last year were indexed for increased inflation.
Income growth is likely to continue this year. The crisis in the labor market will not be resolved soon; surveyed analysts predict unemployment to remain at abnormally low levels and real wages to grow by 2.4% this year. Inflation is forecast to slow to 5.1%, and pensions and other payments will be indexed in accordance with last year’s 7.4%.
But even in this case, real incomes will be good if they reach the 2013 level. So far they remain lower – and this has been the case for 10 years.