The Central Bank of Russia has conducted a study on household consumer finances and found out how Russian households’ savings behavior changed over the past five years. Elizaveta Martyanova, Researcher at the Gaidar Institute’s Mathematical Modeling of Economic Processes Department analyzed the findings.
The 2020-2024 period has become a time of significant changes in the economic environment for Russian households. The pandemic, growing macroeconomic uncertainty, changing conditions of foreign trade and financial markets, accelerating inflation and the subsequent increase in borrowing costs affected not only income and consumption levels, but also decisions on how much of the available funds to set aside and for what purposes. To analyze these changes, data from the All-Russian Household Survey on Consumer Finances, conducted by the Central Bank of Russia, were used.
- The share of households with savings increased from 43% in 2020 to 44% in 2022 and 48% in 2024. The growth in the share of households with savings was uneven: the share of households with savings increased the most in the first decile and in households with per capita incomes above the median.
- The increase in the share of households with savings took place amid a decrease in the declared propensity for them after 2020. In 2024, 59% of respondents agreed with the statement “I try to save money for the future” vs. 67% in 2020.
- The savings formation strategy has changed. In 2022, for the first time during the observation period, the share of households that “just save everything that remains at the end of the month” exceeded the share of those who spend all their income. In 2024, the first strategy reached 46%, while the share of households that fully spend their income was equal to 36%. At the same time, the share of those who save a fixed amount or part of their income in advance remains low at 12%.
- Unforeseen expenses remain the main savings goal in 2024: 38% of households indicated this goal, compared to 34% in 2020 and 37% in 2022. Saving for old age ranks second in terms of importance, at 15%. At the same time, the share of savings for education decreased from 4.9% in 2018 to 3.6% in 2024, and for the purchase of real estate – from 7.2% to 6.5%. This is consistent with the economic logic of the precautionary motive: as uncertainty increases, households seek to boost their stock of liquid resources in order to cushion the impact of unexpected changes in income or expenditure.
- The financial planning horizon has grown. In 2024, the share of households making decisions about spending and saving within one month decreased, and the share of those who focus on a period of six months to a year or more increased.
- Preferences for non-financial assets are changing. In 2024, 14.2% of households had additional real estate in terms of apartments, which is 1.9 p.p. more than in 2013. At the same time, the prevalence of land plots and garages has decreased.
- Among financial assets, bank accounts remain the most common. Other financial instruments (stocks, bonds, mutual funds, precious metal accounts and private pension funds) are more frequently used by middle-aged respondents (36–45 years old), whereas digital wallets and cryptocurrency are more common among younger respondents (18–25 years old).
Overall, between 2020 and 2024, Russian households became more likely to have savings, with these savings increasingly serving as a buffer against uncertainty. At the same time, 2024 saw a notable improvement in how households subjectively assess their financial situation and future prospects. Future waves of the survey will reveal how sustainable these changes prove to be and whether these positive expectations will persist.