Salaries in Russia

Salaries in Russia can hardly be called high. Meanwhile, various goods such as food are overpriced for the real income of the majority of the population. Since 2000 prices in Russia are rising faster than salaries.

Оf course, it is worth noting the fact that in 2014 there was a drop in real estate prices. The cost of purchase of real estate and housing rental in apartment buildings decreased by half. However, a lot of people including some low-income pensioners lived on the money from the rental of real property. Also in 2014 the ruble fell more than twice in comparison to the euro and the dollar. Consequently, in that year there was a drop in the level of real incomes of the Russian population, because there was a significant increase in the prices of many food products and other goods.

Actually, there are countries where salaries and the living standard of the population are even lower than in Russia. For example, in Belarus almost every local resident rummages in trash cans like sewer rat without embarrassment before tourists. All this I repeatedly observed firsthand during a tourist trip to Minsk (the capital of Belarus).

All salaries on this page are listed before deduction of income tax.

According to independent labor market research for 2018 the average monthly salary of the Russian population was approximately 25,000 Russian rubles ($ 384). For the sake of justice, it is noteworthy that wages above 30-45 thousand rubles (461- 692 US dollars) are the norm for cities such as Moscow, St. Petersburg and a number of northern Russian. If we talk about the northern cities, we must bear in mind the fact that prices in such cities are higher than prices in St. Petersburg and Moscow.

You can see below the official statistics of the wage level in Russia by economic activities for 2015-2016, because it wasn’t possible to find later data. From my point of view, the amounts are greatly overestimated.

All salary amounts are in Russian rubles.

Kind of activity	2015			2016
	October	November	December	January	February
Agriculture, hunting and forestry	20 135	19 568	23 246	18 762	18 229
Fishing, fish farming	49 033	47 057	51 653	50 320	45 331
Mineral extraction	59 980	60 381	86 085	62 498	61 407
among them:
Extraction of fuel and energy resources	64 801	64 996	94 211	71 212	68 605
Mineral extraction, except fuel and energy	50 544	51 210	69 653	44 479	46 620
Manufacturing industries	32 145	31 639	37 503	31 261	31 968
of them:
Food production including drinks and tobacco	27 554	26 611	29 950	26 768	26 753
Textile and garment manufacture	16 100	15 661	17 309	14 484	15 441
Manufacture of leather, leather goods and footwear	18 619	18 410	19 088	17 566	18 762
Timber processing and manufacture of wood products	20 659	20 163	22 304	20 500	20 812
Pulp and paper production: publishing and printing	30 657	30 198	35 047	31 869	35 259
Production of coke and petroleum products	68 405	67 585	93 483	66 430	70 290
Chemical production	38 413	37 627	48 872	40 436	42 639
Production of other non-metallic mineral products	28 078	26 930	29 874	25 621	26 409
Manufacture of rubber and plastic products	25 887	25 313	27 783	25 024	25 148
Metallurgy and manufacture of finished metal goods	33 560	32 151	38 428	32 564	33 229
Manufacture of machinery and equipment	32 519	32 416	37 972	32 185	38 879
Manufacture of electrical, electronic and optical equipment	37 839	38 337	46 791	35 027	35 681
Production of vehicles and equipment	37 160	36 988	43 664	35 199	36 501
Оther production	21 803	21 033	23 822	20 355	21 497
Production and distribution of electricity, gas and water	35 246	35 733	44 216	37 095	36 976
Construction	29 916	29 786	36 506	27 603	29 082
Wholesale and retail trade; repair of vehicles, motorcycles	27 544	26 840	31 588	27 602	28 112
Hotels and restaurants	20 438	20 052	22 533	21 652	20 917
Transport and communication	38 259	36 666	43 801	38 491	37 869
among them communication	32 022	32 663	37 776	33 689	33 433
Financial activity	61 790	66 972	111 124	60 725	90 170
Real estate trading, rent and provision of services	38 503	39 944	53 172	37 603	40 230
Research and development	57 935	63 120	84 159	51 122	53 770
Public administration and provision of military security etc	41 163	39 103	65 101	36 127	37 368
Education	26 560	27 554	34 951	25 133	25 797
Health care and social services	27 197	27 660	34 695	28 640	26 710
Provision of other communal, social and personal services	29 743	29 732	38 709	30 185	30 427
among them organization activities of leisure, entertainment, culture, and sports	33 096	33 039	45 250	33 639	34 472

Speaking about Russian salaries, you need to understand that many Russians get paid unofficially, it means without paying any taxes by the employer and the employee. Such employers sometimes pay even less than the minimum wage established by the state.

Many employers are inclined to deceive their employees at payment of salaries. Employees are sometimes underpaid because of any reason. Also, there are employers who delay wages for months and then dismiss employees without paying their salaries. It is not always obtained to provide justice in court. I myself have witnessed this. My mother worked in a public educational institution with several branches in St. Petersburg and her employer didn’t pay for work during New Year’s holidays. She brought a case in court, but the staff of the educational institution forged the requested documents and as a result the court took the side of the employer. A lot of people were involved in the falsification of documents. All this happened with the acquiescence and most likely upon the order of the director of the educational institution.

I hope you will draw conclusions about the written above.