Economists appreciated Kudrin’s words about the rise in living standards compared to the USSR – RBK

Vladimir Tikhomirov, chief economist at Macro-Advisory, expressed the opinion that if income is assessed in dollar terms, the standard of living in Russia has grown quite significantly since the beginning of the 1990s, although it is difficult to estimate exactly how much in percentage terms. However, he emphasizes, the difficulty here also lies in the fact that over the past years the price system has changed, which is why it makes no sense to compare the standard of living purely by the level of income.

“For 30 years the price system has changed, not only in Russia, but also in the world. What used to be expensive has become cheap. And vice versa. For example, consumer electronics, due to new industries, technological improvements, have become less expensive. If buying electronic equipment about 30 years ago was a big waste for households, now everything is different. On the other hand, prices for basic goods, including food, have grown significantly. Now the cost of food, basic services, such as housing and communal services, have become higher. And if you look at incomes in dollars, even after adjusting for inflation, household incomes have increased, but for most people this growth may be purely nominal, and it does not necessarily affect the quality of life and consumer ability of the population, “Tikhomirov explained.

Vladimir Salnikov, a leading researcher at the Laboratory for Analysis and Forecasting of Economic Processes at the HSE Center for Fundamental Research, believes that any comparison of indicators so spaced in time will be conditional. “First of all, because new goods and services appear, old ones disappear. It is not entirely clear how to compare them, ”he said.

Salnikov, like Tikhomirov, recalled that the prices of goods, their ratio and living standards change greatly over time. “What used to be considered a sign of high prosperity is becoming commonplace. If in Soviet times a car was a luxury item for an ordinary person, no matter what kind of car, as long as there were four wheels and it drove, today it is not difficult to simply buy “four wheels”. Just like digital services, smartphones. Today, a smartphone is also a photo, a video camera, it has many functions that were previously unimaginable. The same tape recorder was considered valuable. So, everything is conditional, ”the expert explained.

He also pointed out the fact that many goods are getting cheaper in relation to their purchasing power and are becoming more affordable than in Soviet times. However, the situation with the quality and cost of services is different. “For example, in the healthcare sector. In Moscow, it may not have worsened, although there are different opinions, but sometimes a person has to pay for good health care. In Soviet times, health care was relatively free, and on average it was better. From this point of view, we have obviously sagged. Some goods have become more affordable, but healthcare, perhaps not. Similar questions can be asked about education. But it is not yet clear how to measure it correctly, ”he stated.

“In my opinion, it is almost impossible to measure the change in living standards as a percentage relative to the Soviet Union. With the same success, one could say that the growth was 15%, 25%, 35%, and under each figure, bring your arguments, a theoretical basis, “- summed up Salnikov.

In an interview TASS Kudrin said that in 2003-2004, the standard of living in Russia was restored, which was among citizens in 1990 before the collapse of the USSR. ” “On average, this was achieved both for teachers and doctors. The standard of living is now about 20% higher than in the Soviet Union. In the 2000s, when I was Deputy Prime Minister, from 2000 to 2011, the standard of living in the country tripled. It seems that this is an unattainable figure, but we started from a very low level, ”he said.

Based on the data of the World Bank, the size of GDP per capita, calculated at purchasing power parity, in Russia increased compared to 1991: before the collapse of the USSR, it was just over $ 20 thousand, and by 2019, before the COVID-19 pandemic, it was $ 26.5 thousand

Ukraine is the only post-Soviet country whose GDP per capita in PPP fell at the end of the dock 2019 compared to 1990 (by 19%). By 2021, it was $ 12.4 thousand.

Another indicator for measuring living standards is the Human Development Index (HDI), which has been regularly calculated by the United Nations Development Program since 1990. He assesses such indicators as life expectancy, the literacy rate of the population, the standard of living, taking into account the gross national income per capita. This figure in modern Russia is lower than in the USSR in 1990. In the UN report for 1990, the USSR was in 26th place in the world in HDI with an indicator of 0.920 between Czechoslovakia and Bulgaria. In the 2020 ranking, Russia was in 52nd place with an indicator of 0.824 between Kazakhstan and Belarus.