BOFIT Weekly Review 2016/23
Declining ruble exchange rate has sharply lowered external value of wages in all branches
The average monthly Russian wage between April 2015 and March 2016 was €500. In manufacturing, it was about €470, lower than in China (roughly €600), and if compared to EU countries with lowest incomes, lower than in Romania (€550) but still higher than in Bulgaria (about €400). Russian manufacturing wages vary tangibly. The low-income branches are textiles and clothing with €240 and woodworking with slightly over €300. High-income branches comprise basic metals and chemicals where the average is around €600 a month.
The best-paying fields overall are oil refining (€1,300 a month), oil & gas production, pipeline transmission and finance (each around €1,000 a month). Russia’s low-paid fields include trade, education and the health services branch (about €400 a month), and construction (€440). Public administration jobs, including administration in social services and defence paid around €600 a month.
Estimates say unrecorded wages account for about 15 % of the average pay package. Rosstat estimates of unrecorded production connote the share of unrecorded wages varies very much across branches. In particular, pay in the construction and trade branches is better than official figures indicate.
Average monthly wage in various branches
Source: Rosstat.