Income and Prosperity: Are Russians Better Off Than They Used to Be?

In the spring, the Russian Federal State Statistics Service (Rosstat) published a study on income inequality in Russia. In it, Rosstat calculates the income inequality coefficient, which indicates the financial gap between the richest 10% and the poorest 10% of Russians. The study “Socioeconomic Situation in Russia” shows that the income gap between the rich and the poor will have widened to 15.8 times by 2025—up from 15.5 times the previous year.

The top 10% of the population with the highest incomes account for approximately 31% of total income—an increase of half a percentage point from the previous year. The share of the poorest Russians in total income amounted to 2%, an increase of 0.1 percentage points from the previous year. When calculating income, the agency takes into account not only income from employment but also income from assets and social benefits.

Income Shift: More High Earners

In the study, analysts divide the Russian population into ten income classes. The lowest class (Group I) has a per capita income of up to 7,000 rubles per month, equivalent to 80 euros, while the highest (Group X) has an income of more than 100,000 rubles, 1,142 euros. Last year, this group accounted for 22.3% of the total population—a significant increase compared to 2024, when 16.7% of Russians had a monthly income of more than 100,000 rubles. According to Rosstat, this shift makes income class X the most widespread in Russia. In 2024, Russians with an income between 27,000 and 45,000 rubles (308 and 514 euros) still made up the majority (24.1%).

Inequality is on the rise

In its latest study, Rosstat does not provide data on the Gini index, which measures income inequality. The Gini coefficient, named after the Italian statistician Corrado Gini, ranges from 0 to 1. Zero corresponds to perfect equality, while one corresponds to perfect concentration within a population group. In an international comparison, income inequality in Russia falls within the middle range. According to the World Bank, Russia’s Gini index stood at 0.351 in 2021; Thailand (0.349) and Ivory Coast (0.353) recorded similar values that year. Inequality in Russia reached its peak during the “golden 2000s,” 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 stood at 0.408; and in the first nine months of 2025, the index had already reached 0.411. For Germany, the Gini index stood at 0.293 two years ago.

After the start of the Ukraine conflict in 2022, the index fell by 2.7%, which was linked to the extensive sanctions against the Russian elite. Since 2023, the index has been rising again. Although the financial situation improved for nearly two-thirds of the Russian population between 2022 and 2025, the better-off are enjoying the largest income growth: Group X recorded a nominal income increase of 8% to 183,000 rubles in the first quarter of 2025 compared to the same period last year. In the adjacent income group IX, there was a 7% increase to 102,000 rubles. In the remaining income groups, the average income increase was 6.5%.

The Never-Ending Battle: Wages vs. Inflation

The average wage in Russia has grown enormously over the past five years: from 57,244 rubles (653 euros) in 2021 to 100,360 rubles (1,146 euros) in 2025. However, numerous economists warn that this surge in wages should not be viewed as a clear indicator of greater prosperity. Many wage increases primarily serve to offset inflation, which is why real income growth is more modest. According to Rosstat data, cumulative inflation since 2005 stands at 352.51%. This means that prices have risen 4.5-fold over the past two decades.

Historically, inflation and wage growth have been in balance. For example, the annual inflation rate in Russia during the 2000s ranged between 9% and 20% per year, while wages rose by 22% to 46% per year due to the strong economy, explains Olga Belenkaya, chief macroeconomic analyst at the investment holding company Finam. This made it easier for consumers to absorb various price increases on supermarket shelves, the analyst explains. After 2008, real income growth slowed, and between 2014 and 2017, it actually declined. Since 2021, average wage growth has once again outpaced price increases, the expert concludes.

Median Instead of Average

When calculating the average wage, statisticians rely on company data. The average is derived from the total of all wages, which is then divided by the number of employees. In this process, the salaries of high earners can significantly skew the overall picture. More meaningful than the average wage is the median salary, which lies exactly in the middle of all wages. 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 rubles (838 euros), significantly lower than the average salary of just over 100,000 rubles (1,140 euros).

Some come away empty-handed

But not all segments of the population are benefiting from the general rise in income. According to Finam analyst Belenkaya, for example, pensions are lagging behind wage growth and, when increased, merely offset inflation. Economic researcher Oleg Abelev from the investment firm Ricom-Trust does not consider inflation adjustment to be standard practice. A large proportion of Russian citizens who have worked for a company for years receive no pay raise for years or are given a symbolic 3–5% increase, which does not cover inflation and actually amounts to a decline in income, Abelev points out. The minimum wage in Russia is currently 27,093 rubles (308 euros).

Russia has one of the lowest poverty rates in the world: at the beginning of 2026, it stood at 7.4%, corresponding to 10.8 million people. Rosstat sets the official poverty line at 16,863 rubles (192 euros). But this figure has been raising eyebrows for quite some time. Critics consider the current poverty line questionable because Russians’ minimum expenses are far higher. 

This article first appeared in the exclusive newsletter of the German-Russian Chamber of Foreign Trade