Almost 20 million Russians live in poverty according to Russian statistics
Last year, the number of Russians living in poverty reached 19.8 million, which is the highest point in 10 years. The number of poor Russians increased by 300,000 in 2016, according to data released on April 5th by the Russian Federal State Statistics Service, Rosstat.
More than 13% of the population have incomes below the subsistence minimum, which in the fourth quarter of 2016 was 9,691 rubles a month (this is about 4,600 hryvnia).
This is the highest level since 2006, when 21.6 million Russians were below the poverty line.
The lowest level reached was in 2014, when there were 16.1 million people below the poverty line. This was the year when oil prices fell, and when Russia annexed the Crimea and also began to support separatists in the Donbas; as a result, Western countries imposed economic sanctions against Moscow.
Russia responded to the sanctions by banning the import of many Western goods. The economic downturn was also accompanied by a rise in prices, which significantly undermined the purchasing power of Russian consumers.