In Russia, there's a vast income gap between the wealthiest and the least affluent workers, with the former earning up to twelve times more than the latter - uncovering the specific figures involved.
A new study by Rosstat, published in July 2025, has shed light on the distribution of workers' salaries across different sectors of the Russian economy. The study, conducted in April 2025, reveals interesting trends in wage disparities and the sectors that have the most workers just above the poverty line and those with the highest earners.
Sectors with Lowest Wages
The culture, sports, and leisure sector has the second-highest percentage of "poor" employees, with 5.8% of workers in the education sector also earning less than the national living wage for able-bodied individuals. The processing industry also shows a significantly lower percentage of workers with wages at or slightly above the MROT level compared to the national average. Additionally, sectors with many budgetary enterprises have been left behind in the wage race.
The largest share of Russians earn between 70,000 and 150,000 rubles, before income tax and excluding one-time premiums and material assistance. This group, which makes up a significant portion of the workforce, is primarily found in industrial cities and traditional sectors where wages remain modest despite some regional economic growth. The North Caucasian and Far Eastern Federal Districts have higher unemployment and presumably more low-income workers, while the Central Federal District, including Moscow, has higher average incomes (~71,400 rubles monthly) and lower unemployment (~2%).
Sectors with Highest Wages
The sector with the highest number of millionaire employees is Information and Communications, with 1% of employees earning over a million. One in seven high earners in the surveyed organizations works in this sector. In the Information and Communications sector, Rosstat found 765 individuals earning over 3 million rubles per month (not for the whole of Russia, but for the organizations surveyed).
Finance and Insurance takes the second spot in the ranking of sectors with the most "rich" employees, with 0.8% being millionaires and 0.1% earning over 3 million rubles a month. The extraction of minerals has the lowest percentage of "poor" workers, at 0.3%.
High earners are notably in the military due to large signing bonuses and hazard pay related to the war effort, as well as in the oil and gas sector and certain transport jobs like truck driving, which reportedly now pays salaries comparable to the tech sector. Oil and gas is a high-paying sector though small in workforce size compared to others.
The Impact of Wage Increases
The wage increase in recent years was mainly due to the need to retain highly qualified specialists and enterprises experiencing staff shortages. IT specialists' wages grew significantly above the inflation rate, while wages in construction and some industrial sectors were raised to attract low-paid employees.
Despite the government's reported rise in real disposable incomes and a decrease in poverty by 2 million people in early 2025, financial advisers warn many households cannot sustain themselves for long without paychecks, suggesting widespread low-to-moderate earnings for many workers. Financial data transparency issues in Russia make precise current wage distributions difficult to verify, but the trends indicate that wealth and high income are concentrated in specific sectors and regions, primarily the military and energy industries, while many workers remain near the poverty threshold elsewhere.
[1] Source: Rosstat study, July 2025 [2] Source: Rosstat study, April 2025 [3] Source: Various news reports, July 2025 [4] Source: Rosstat study, July 2025 [5] Source: Various news reports, June 2025
- The Information and Communications sector, a high-paying industry, has the highest percentage of millionaire employees, with 1% of its workers earning over a million rubles per month.
- The Finance and Insurance sector follows closely behind, with 0.8% of its employees being millionaires and 0.1% earning over 3 million rubles a month.
- Personal finance and self-development resources might be of great interest to workers in the lowest wage sectors, such as the culture, sports, and leisure sector, the education sector, and the processing industry.
- When it comes to investing, the sectors with the highest earners, like Information and Communications and Finance and Insurance, could offer more opportunities for investments and business growth.
- General news and sports updates can provide insight into the industries with the highest wages, like the military, oil and gas sector, and certain transport jobs, which offer higher salaries, thanks to signing bonuses, hazard pay, or increasing demand.
