The number of the Russian population with incomes below the subsistence minimum remained virtually unchanged year-on-year – in Q1 2022 it amounted to 20.9 million people against 20.8 million a year earlier, the Federal State Statistics Service (Rosstat) reported.

The poverty rate in Russia in the 1st quarter of 2022 rose slightly to 14.3% against 14.2% in the 1st quarter of 2021.

“In the 1st quarter of 2022, the poverty border amounted to 12 thousand 916 rubles. The number of people with incomes below the poverty line in Q1 2022 amounted to 20.9 million people, or 14.3% of the country’s residents. Compared to the first quarter of 2021, the number of people with incomes below the poverty line in the first quarter of 2022 increased by 0.1 p.p., or 0.1 million people,” Rosstat said in a statement.

“The main reason for the growth was the acceleration of inflation to 11.54% (Q1 2022 to Q1 2021), which exceeded the growth of average per capita nominal monetary income. Average per capita nominal income in the first quarter of 2022 amounted to 36 thousand 234 rubles, which is 10.9% more than in the first quarter of 2021. Real cash income decreased by 1.0% compared to the first quarter of 2021, and real disposable cash income – by 1.2%”, – explain in Rosstat.

The poverty rate indicator has a pronounced seasonal character – maximum in Q1 and minimum in Q4 (due to the payment of bonuses at the end of the year), so it is more correct to compare the quarter with the same quarter last year, rather than with the previous quarter.

The poverty rate in the Russian Federation as a whole for 2021 was 11.0% vs. 12.1% in 2020. This includes a poverty rate of 8.5% in Q4 2021 (9.2% in Q4 2020), 11.0% in Q3 (12.8%), 12.5% in Q2 (13.5%), and 14.2% in Q1 (12.6%).