According to the results of the recently published report by Rosstat, it became clear that in 2011 the income growth of Russian citizens decreased markedly from 5.2% in 2010 to 3.5% in 2011. The decrease also affected the level of wages, in 2011 its growth did not exceed 0.8% compared to 2010, where it was 5.1%.
Experts argue that these results are associated not with a deterioration in the living standards of the population, but with an increase in the number of loans taken out. In addition, wages do not reach the pre-crisis level. And yet, analysts are not inclined to exaggerate, in their opinion, growth has slowed down significantly, but has not stopped. It is now classified as «moderately optimistic.» At the same time, one of the leading specialists of the Center for Macroeconomic Analysis and Short-Term Forecasting believes that the Rosstat data were calculated with a large error, since the statistical department, when recalculating the level of income for 2011, compared the price level with the period of 2008. Also, Rosstat, forming its indicators, does not take into account the payments of citizens on loans received, and this, according to analysts, takes about 4 to 5 percent of income. Expecting the second wave of the crisis in Europe, many Russians decided not to tempt fate and invest their available funds in the necessary goods. In connection with this circumstance, since 2010, one can observe an increased demand for consumer loans. As for the decrease in the growth of wages, the increase since 2011 in the volume of insurance premiums, which reached 34%, played a role. At the same time, the growth of employment and the payment of wage arrears also influenced. The biggest pressure today is on the poor, as this category has an inflation rate of 3% higher than that of other social groups. However, in this situation there are also a number of advantages. For example, there is no overestimated level of wages, as in the pre-crisis time, and the level of income of working citizens increases along with the growth of GDP. In the pre-crisis years, when changing jobs, a candidate could count on a salary increase of 30 or even 40 percent. Now the situation on the labor market has become more adequate and most employers are not ready to leave the growth of wages at the pre-crisis level. According to analysts’ forecasts this year, the maximum growth of the outboard board will be from 10 to 15 percent, and the Ministry of Economy states that this figure will reach only 5.1%..
