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Russia was able to feed itself and reduce poverty, by Olga Samofalova for VZGLYAD. 07.25.2024.
For the first time since 2004, the share of the poorest Russians who do not have enough money for food turned out to be zero. This is according to Rosstat. It turns out that all Russian families now have enough money for food. How did Russia manage to achieve such success? And why does this still not mean a complete victory over poverty?
In 2023, for the first time since 2004, Russian households did not report that they did not have enough money for food, while in 2023 there were 0.1% of families who did, and 20 years ago - 4.4%. The first data disclosed in the Rosstat study relate to 2004.
The share of the second poverty category of the population has also decreased – those who have enough money for food, but have difficulties buying clothes and paying for housing and communal services, notes Olga Belenkaya, head of the macroeconomic analysis department at FG Finam.
In 2023, there were 11.2% of such households, compared to 12.9% the year before, whereas 20 years ago their share was 37%, and in 2012 – 20.5%.
The number of households that have money to buy everything they want has grown to 3.4% from 2.7% a year earlier. The number of families that did not have enough money to buy a car, apartment or summer house in 2023 has increased by two percentage points over the year – 36.6%.
The share of those who could not afford durable goods decreased from 49.7% to 48.7%. At the same time, about 0.1% of Russian families found it difficult to assess their financial situation.
“In general, this dynamic indicates a decrease in the level of extreme poverty in the country, which correlates with Rosstat data on a decrease in the poverty level in 2023 to 8.5% from 9% in 2022, while 20 years ago this level reached 17.6%,” - Belenkaya notes. According to her, the reduction in poverty was facilitated by achieving maximum employment, since the unemployment rate is now at a historical minimum of 2.6%, as well as increased wage growth, which is associated with an acute shortage of labor resources. In 2023, the average nominal salary increased by 14.6%, real by 8.2%. In industries related to the military-industrial complex and import substitution, wages grew faster.
“Other factors in reducing extreme poverty were the whitening of incomes over the past 20 years and social policy measures – increasing the minimum wage and benefits tied to it, maternity capital, indexation of pensions for non-working pensioners, social benefits, in particular for low-income families with children, payments to participants in the SVO and their families,” adds Belenkaya.
It is impossible not to note the overall growth of the Russian economy, which naturally increased the well-being of the country's residents. "Since 1989, the country's GDP growth has been 30%, while the main period of poverty for Russia was observed in the 1990s. The main vulnerable group of the population with low incomes has always been pensioners. Since 1998 - the lowest point in the economic downturn - pensions in real terms have grown by 2.7 times, and since 2004 - by 2.3 times. In fact, the growth of well-being made it possible to satisfy the primary needs of the population," says Ilya Fedorov, chief economist of BCS World of Investments.
An important role was also played by the fact that the Russian authorities made food security one of the most important priorities for the country's development. Thanks to this, individual branches of agriculture received significant state support in the form of preferential loans, subsidies and benefits in order to raise agriculture to a qualitatively new level, when we are able to feed ourselves. "It is not enough to simply grow a crop, you also need to deliver it to the consumer, maintaining the range, prices and quality.
Almost complete food security allows us to contain the growth of prices for basic food products. It has been achieved for all product groups, with the exception of fruits and berries.
With the required 60% of domestic production, this figure currently stands at 44%. At the beginning of 2023, the country was provided with grain by 185.5%, vegetable oil by 221.1%, fish by 153.2%, sugar by 103.2%, meat by 101.6%, dairy products by 85.7%," notes Olga Lebedinskaya, associate professor of the Department of Statistics at Plekhanov Russian University of Economics.
At the same time, it is not enough to simply provide everyone with food; it was also necessary to reduce the level of spending on food, and there is a result, she adds.
According to Rosstat, the share of food spending in the overall structure of spending in Russia as a whole in 2023 decreased from 34.5 to 33.2% (in the North Caucasus Federal District from 46.8 to 43.1%). In some regions, the share of in-kind food receipts increased, while the average expenditure per household member increased to 25,988 rubles (in 2022 - 23,067 rubles). "The higher this share, the less will be left for the purchase of expensive goods with a long service life," Lebedinskaya notes. Important factors of success, according to her, are also an increase in the level of employment, the level of wages, subsidies for agricultural producers and the introduction of protective export duties.
Russian agriculture has indeed made impressive progress over the past 23 years. According to the Ministry of Agriculture, agricultural production in Russia has grown by 87% since 2000, grain and meat production has doubled, and fish catch has increased by 60%. Russia has thus been able to ensure food self-sufficiency and also significantly increase exports – 30 times since 2000.
As a result, Russia was able not only to feed itself, but also began to feed half the world. Russia ranks second in the world in external supplies of grain and leguminous crops, is the number one exporter of wheat and fish, is in second place in the trade of sunflower and rapeseed oil, and third in barley supplies.
However, it is worth understanding that poverty in Russia has not been defeated, and this is not the case. “Firstly, the data from the Rosstat report is based on a sample survey of 48 thousand households in Russia, and its results apply to all private households. However, there are regions where the share of people who do not have enough money for food is not zero. For example, in the Kemerovo Region this share is 0.4%, in the Vladimir Region – 0.3%. Thus, the statement that there are no families left in Russia who do not have enough money for food still seems too bold a generalization,” says Olga Belenkaya.
And the share of those who have enough for food, but not enough to buy clothes and pay for housing and utilities, increases sharply among non-working pensioners (25.7%) and in single-parent families (19.7%), the expert notes. This, according to her, may reflect the fact that real wages last year grew by 8.2%, and the real average pension - only by 3.3%.
"Also, the share of households that only have enough money for food, but are already having difficulties buying clothes and paying for housing and communal services, in 2023 exceeded 20% in a number of regions (Bryansk, Oryol, Ryazan, Rostov, Sverdlovsk, Novosibirsk regions, Kabardino-Balkaria, Primorsky and Zabaykalsky territories) and exceeds 30% in the Saratov region. This suggests that poverty is far from being defeated," says Olga Belenkaya.
At the same time, the share of households that have enough money for food and clothing, but not enough to purchase durable goods, is still very high: almost half of those surveyed (in 2023 - 48.7%), and over the years there has been no noticeable decrease in this share (in 2019 - 50.3%, in 2012 - 45.1%), the expert notes.
https://vz.ru/economy/2024/7/25/1279042.html
For the first time since 2004, the share of the poorest Russians who do not have enough money for food turned out to be zero. This is according to Rosstat. It turns out that all Russian families now have enough money for food. How did Russia manage to achieve such success? And why does this still not mean a complete victory over poverty?
In 2023, for the first time since 2004, Russian households did not report that they did not have enough money for food, while in 2023 there were 0.1% of families who did, and 20 years ago - 4.4%. The first data disclosed in the Rosstat study relate to 2004.
The share of the second poverty category of the population has also decreased – those who have enough money for food, but have difficulties buying clothes and paying for housing and communal services, notes Olga Belenkaya, head of the macroeconomic analysis department at FG Finam.
In 2023, there were 11.2% of such households, compared to 12.9% the year before, whereas 20 years ago their share was 37%, and in 2012 – 20.5%.
The number of households that have money to buy everything they want has grown to 3.4% from 2.7% a year earlier. The number of families that did not have enough money to buy a car, apartment or summer house in 2023 has increased by two percentage points over the year – 36.6%.
The share of those who could not afford durable goods decreased from 49.7% to 48.7%. At the same time, about 0.1% of Russian families found it difficult to assess their financial situation.
“In general, this dynamic indicates a decrease in the level of extreme poverty in the country, which correlates with Rosstat data on a decrease in the poverty level in 2023 to 8.5% from 9% in 2022, while 20 years ago this level reached 17.6%,” - Belenkaya notes. According to her, the reduction in poverty was facilitated by achieving maximum employment, since the unemployment rate is now at a historical minimum of 2.6%, as well as increased wage growth, which is associated with an acute shortage of labor resources. In 2023, the average nominal salary increased by 14.6%, real by 8.2%. In industries related to the military-industrial complex and import substitution, wages grew faster.
“Other factors in reducing extreme poverty were the whitening of incomes over the past 20 years and social policy measures – increasing the minimum wage and benefits tied to it, maternity capital, indexation of pensions for non-working pensioners, social benefits, in particular for low-income families with children, payments to participants in the SVO and their families,” adds Belenkaya.
It is impossible not to note the overall growth of the Russian economy, which naturally increased the well-being of the country's residents. "Since 1989, the country's GDP growth has been 30%, while the main period of poverty for Russia was observed in the 1990s. The main vulnerable group of the population with low incomes has always been pensioners. Since 1998 - the lowest point in the economic downturn - pensions in real terms have grown by 2.7 times, and since 2004 - by 2.3 times. In fact, the growth of well-being made it possible to satisfy the primary needs of the population," says Ilya Fedorov, chief economist of BCS World of Investments.
An important role was also played by the fact that the Russian authorities made food security one of the most important priorities for the country's development. Thanks to this, individual branches of agriculture received significant state support in the form of preferential loans, subsidies and benefits in order to raise agriculture to a qualitatively new level, when we are able to feed ourselves. "It is not enough to simply grow a crop, you also need to deliver it to the consumer, maintaining the range, prices and quality.
Almost complete food security allows us to contain the growth of prices for basic food products. It has been achieved for all product groups, with the exception of fruits and berries.
With the required 60% of domestic production, this figure currently stands at 44%. At the beginning of 2023, the country was provided with grain by 185.5%, vegetable oil by 221.1%, fish by 153.2%, sugar by 103.2%, meat by 101.6%, dairy products by 85.7%," notes Olga Lebedinskaya, associate professor of the Department of Statistics at Plekhanov Russian University of Economics.
At the same time, it is not enough to simply provide everyone with food; it was also necessary to reduce the level of spending on food, and there is a result, she adds.
According to Rosstat, the share of food spending in the overall structure of spending in Russia as a whole in 2023 decreased from 34.5 to 33.2% (in the North Caucasus Federal District from 46.8 to 43.1%). In some regions, the share of in-kind food receipts increased, while the average expenditure per household member increased to 25,988 rubles (in 2022 - 23,067 rubles). "The higher this share, the less will be left for the purchase of expensive goods with a long service life," Lebedinskaya notes. Important factors of success, according to her, are also an increase in the level of employment, the level of wages, subsidies for agricultural producers and the introduction of protective export duties.
Russian agriculture has indeed made impressive progress over the past 23 years. According to the Ministry of Agriculture, agricultural production in Russia has grown by 87% since 2000, grain and meat production has doubled, and fish catch has increased by 60%. Russia has thus been able to ensure food self-sufficiency and also significantly increase exports – 30 times since 2000.
As a result, Russia was able not only to feed itself, but also began to feed half the world. Russia ranks second in the world in external supplies of grain and leguminous crops, is the number one exporter of wheat and fish, is in second place in the trade of sunflower and rapeseed oil, and third in barley supplies.
However, it is worth understanding that poverty in Russia has not been defeated, and this is not the case. “Firstly, the data from the Rosstat report is based on a sample survey of 48 thousand households in Russia, and its results apply to all private households. However, there are regions where the share of people who do not have enough money for food is not zero. For example, in the Kemerovo Region this share is 0.4%, in the Vladimir Region – 0.3%. Thus, the statement that there are no families left in Russia who do not have enough money for food still seems too bold a generalization,” says Olga Belenkaya.
And the share of those who have enough for food, but not enough to buy clothes and pay for housing and utilities, increases sharply among non-working pensioners (25.7%) and in single-parent families (19.7%), the expert notes. This, according to her, may reflect the fact that real wages last year grew by 8.2%, and the real average pension - only by 3.3%.
"Also, the share of households that only have enough money for food, but are already having difficulties buying clothes and paying for housing and communal services, in 2023 exceeded 20% in a number of regions (Bryansk, Oryol, Ryazan, Rostov, Sverdlovsk, Novosibirsk regions, Kabardino-Balkaria, Primorsky and Zabaykalsky territories) and exceeds 30% in the Saratov region. This suggests that poverty is far from being defeated," says Olga Belenkaya.
At the same time, the share of households that have enough money for food and clothing, but not enough to purchase durable goods, is still very high: almost half of those surveyed (in 2023 - 48.7%), and over the years there has been no noticeable decrease in this share (in 2019 - 50.3%, in 2012 - 45.1%), the expert notes.
https://vz.ru/economy/2024/7/25/1279042.html
