The fact that during the pandemic almost every one of us has become poorer does not need to be proved to anyone: to confirm this fact, it is enough to climb into your own wallet. But how much we have become impoverished all together, the survey of the Swiss financial conglomerate Credit Suisse gave the answer. At the end of last year, Russia was in the top five countries, whose population is becoming poorer most rapidly and on a large scale. According to the annual Global Wealth Report, the level of well-being of the average citizen of the Russian Federation has decreased by 9.9%, or almost $ 700 per each adult resident of the country.
Only Brazil (-23%), the UAE (-13.1%) and Chile (-10.7%) decreased more than ours, of all the leading powers. At the end of 2020, 111.8 million Russian adults accounted for $ 3.038 trillion, or 0.73% of the global value ($ 418.31 trillion). Losses amounted to $ 338 billion.
For the bulk of the population of the Russian Federation, the word “welfare” sounds extremely abstract and even annoying. It’s like with Bigfoot – everyone has heard of him, but no one has ever seen him. In the mentality, in the coordinate system of a Western person, be it an American, a Frenchman or a Belgian, the concept of wealth occupies an absolutely legitimate and meaningful place for a long time. It is expressed in concrete figures and feelings associated with consistent measures by the state to increase the welfare of citizens.
Swiss financiers carry out the assessment according to their own methodology, including the calculation of the country’s stock market capitalization, house prices, exchange rates and changes in GDP.
The final indicator reflects the value of the population’s assets at the end of June compared to the end of last year. We are talking about the level of general material prosperity, which in Russia as a whole is calculated differently – on the basis of statistics on real disposable income. According to Rosstat, in 2020 they fell by 3.5%.
The Credit Suisse report notes that in Russia the highest share of wealth (57%) is concentrated in the hands of the wealthiest 1%. For comparison: the American rich own 35% of all assets, the Japanese – about 17%. The global average is about 44%. In addition, our country is one of the five leaders in the number of dollar billionaires from the Forbes list. And these moments seem to be key.
It seems that the task of entering the top 5 economies, set by President Putin, has already been solved. Just not quite as intended. On average, there is $ 27,162 for every adult Russian. But this amount is conditional, since it also includes the capital of domestic moneybags. According to recent estimates by the Boston Consulting Group, the total amount of funds owned by less than 0.0001% of the population of the Russian Federation is $ 640 billion. This is the main source of the concept of Global Wealth. According to such a symbolic parameter of property stratification as the Gini coefficient, Russia occupies one of the leading places in the world. We have it equal to 87.8, higher only in Brazil (88), South Africa (88), UAE (88.8), Bahrain (88.9) and the Bahamas (91.2).
In reality, according to Credit Suisse’s calculations, half of the population of the Russian Federation has total assets not exceeding $ 5431 per person. This is somewhere on the level of Peru and Ecuador. Even in Albania, the median welfare bar is 2.8 times higher than the Russian one. In the US, it is at around $ 79.2 thousand. Meanwhile, as the head of the Ministry of Finance Anton Siluanov recently declared in the State Duma, increasing incomes and reducing the number of the poor is the “most important goal of the work” of the government. According to the minister, “this is being implemented both by stimulating economic growth and, accordingly, the growth of jobs with higher wages, and by supporting those in need.”
Alas, these words are perceptibly at odds with the true picture of the world. A picture that is made up of many components. For example, from the fact that (according to the FinExpertiza network) one-fifth of Russians live on an average of 10 thousand rubles a month. Or that last year the ruble depreciated against the dollar by 15 percent. Or that the economy will not break out of the endless cycle of crises and stagnation.
However, there is still reason for optimism. As the Credit Suisse report showed, there are as many as three countries ahead of us in terms of falling global wealth. Rio de Janeiro, the city of Ostap Bender’s “crystal dream”, actually turned out to be full of contrasts. So if your income has dropped over the past year, don’t be sad. You’d better say thank you that you do not live in Brazil.
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Chronicles of Diving Fortune
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