Statistical reforms provide improved picture of Russian household spending

New figures show that the large contraction in real household incomes of recent years was a little milder than reported earlier. They also show that the real trend in spending on goods and services improved slightly. Data on nominal spending on the purchases in 2013−2018, however, jumped 7 %, which may eventually lead to an upward revision in figures for the nominal levels of household consumption and GDP.

Rosstat has yet to release new figures on sub-categories of household spending on purchases based on its new statistical methodology. Changes made to the methodology suggest that the rise in the level of spending is due to more comprehensive inclusion of data on e.g. Russian spending on tourism abroad and online purchases from foreign websites.

In addition to the higher level of spending on purchases, as the level of other household expenses and payments also increased remarkably, the picture of household savings declined sharply. The other payments should now cover better the gratuitous money transfers that Russians send abroad.

Real per capita income and spending of Russian households, 2014–2018

Sources: Rosstat and BOFIT.