21M Russians Live in Poverty, Official Data Says
The number of Russians living below the poverty line has grown by half a million since early 2018, according to official data.
Western sanctions and falling oil prices over the past five years have led to a decline in real incomes and a rise in consumer prices.
President Vladimir Putin
is pursuing a national program on drastically reducing poverty by the time his term ends in 2024, aiming for 12% poverty rates this year.
Russia’s poverty rates totaled 14.3%, or 20.9 million people, in January-March 2019, according to Russia’s State Statistics Service (Rosstat).
That’s up from 13.9%, or 20.4 million people, in January-March 2018.
The Moscow Times
https://www.themoscowtimes.com/2019/07/30/21m-russians-live-in-poverty-official-data-says-a66618