The ability of Russians to buy food has collapsed

While Rosstat reports on the resumption of growth in the real disposable incomes of Russians, and their decline relative to 2019 is estimated at only 0,9%, in terms of basic food products, the purchasing power of Russian consumers is falling at a double-digit rate, writes finanz.media.

The sharp increase in basic food, which began with sugar and sunflower oil, and ended with a potato and carrot shock, significantly reduced the real amount of wages, if they are estimated in kilograms of food.

In the first half of 2021, the average Russian salary could buy 1232 kg of potatoes, which is 447 kg less than a year earlier. Thus, if the purchasing power of salaries is measured in potatoes, then during the period of the coronavirus crisis it decreased by 26,6%, according to the analytical service of the international auditing and consulting network FinExpertiza.

In January, my retail prices for potatoes increased in annual terms by 49,2% (from 25,4 rubles to 37,9 rubles per kilogram). At the same time, average monthly nominal wages at enterprises increased by 8,8% (up to 46,7 thousand rubles after deduction of income tax), and in real terms, taking into account inflation, only by 3%.

"Potatoes became one of the most traveled food products in 2021, which is connected with last year's bad harvest and the resulting need for imported supplies," notes the president of FinExpertiza Global, Elena Trubnikova.

In some regions, the collapse of purchasing power, calculated in kilograms of potatoes, became double: 53,9% in the Kaliningrad Region, 44,8% in the Altai Republic, 44% in the Kostroma Region, 43,4% in Chuvashia.

It is followed by Altai Territory (-40,5%), Omsk Region (-38,7%), Khakassia (-38,3%), Krasnoyarsk Territory (-37,9%), Karelia (-37,4%) and Samara region (-37,1%).

On average, Russians eat about 56,5 kg of potatoes per person per hour, and although the consumption of potatoes in Russia is gradually decreasing, this product remains one of the main ones for Russian families, Trubnikova points out: "And the amount of potatoes in a person's diet does not depend on the level income — both the rich and the poor consume roughly the same amount of potatoes."

According to Rosstat data, at the end of the second quarter, on average, Russian citizens lived on 37866 rubles per month, although the majority had significantly lower incomes.

Only 3,7% of the population received more than 100 thousand rubles, only 8,1% earned more than 75 thousand.

At the same time, half - 50,5% - lived on up to 27 thousand rubles per month. Every third (32,3%) received less than 19 thousand rubles, that is, lived on 633 rubles, or 8,5 dollars a day.

Practically every fifth (19,2%) had an income below 14 thousand rubles per month, which corresponds to the amount of 467 rubles, or 6,3 dollars per day.

"Today, the population of Russia is moderately poor, but without any hopes of getting out of this state. Despite all the rhetoric about raising the standard of living, the government will do so that the population remains at such a low standard of living," says Lev Gudkov, sociologist of the Levada Center, recognized as a foreign agent in Russia.

Poverty is "beneficial to the regime," he says, because as wealth grows, demands and claims to power grow.