Ivan Ermokhin, Researcher at the Gaidar Institute's International Best Practices Analysis Department, commented for Nezavisimaya Gazeta that the discrepancies between official poverty statistics and opinion poll data are largely explained by the peculiarities of the inflation calculation methodology used by Rosstat.
"The poverty line in Russia is currently set at Rb16,621, while the survey conducted assumes a subjective assessment of income by the population. In other words, respondents can earn significantly more than the established threshold but still feel poor. Such feelings may arise, among other things, due to price increases in recent years," Ermokhin explained.
He also emphasized that the consumer price index, which is used to calculate the minimum subsistence level, is based on a fixed consumer basket and does not always take into account structural changes in consumption and price dynamics for the most popular categories. “However, such an assessment cannot take into account price changes for all consumer goods, which is why the official inflation estimate of 9.5% in 2024 differs from the estimates announced in the State Duma of 22-31%,” the expert added.