Alexey Vedev, Leading Researcher of Financial Sector Department at the Gaidar Institute, told to “Svobodnaya Pressa” about the gap between the growth of real wages and labor productivity in Russia.
Between 2022 and 2025, real wages rose by 25.2% compared to 2021, whereas labor productivity increased by only 4.2%. According to the economist, this trend has persisted into 2026: in H1 2026, real wages grew by 2.6% year-on-year and the economy expanded by 0.6%, while labor productivity declined by 0.5%.
"The fact that wage growth is significantly outpacing other indicators is a dangerous trend. An increasing share of generated value is spent toward wages rather than profits. This drives up labor costs and reduces financial performance of enterprises," noted Alexey Vedev.
According to the expert, one of the issues is that approximately half of all investments are funded by companies' own resources. Declining profits limit businesses' ability to allocate funds toward development and productivity improvements.
To support business, Alexey Vedev believes, it is essential to alleviate labor market pressure and create conditions that foster investment activity. In particular, he highlights the role of migration policy and tax incentives.
"Economic growth and labor productivity, in annual terms, should be roughly equivalent. Real wages should not rise faster than the economy and productivity; rather, they should lag slightly behind. However, a gap of approximately one p.p. between these indicators would not be critical," the economist concluded.