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Russian statistical service not to publish monthly data of population’s income

The last year became the fifth year of the continuous decline in real income of the population

MOSCOW, March 19. /TASS/. The Russian statistical service Rosstat will suspend publications of monthly data regarding population’s income and will only release quarterly figures, head of the service Pavel Malkov told reporters on Tuesday.

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PM Medvedev says poverty huge headache for Russia, remedies taken but more work needed

"It is suggested to suspend publishing monthly data of money incomes [of the population]. It should be recognized that we do not have a significant portion of data available, and information therefore gives rise to serious questions," the official said.

The Russian statistical service was repeatedly criticized in recent years by experts and by officials. President Vladimir Putin earlier highlighted the need to improve the national statistical system and explain the meaning of published data for the population.

The national statistical service released preliminary data in February, whereby real disposable income (income minus obligatory payments adjusted by inflation) of Russians declined by 1.3% year-on-year. Cash incomes of the population grew by 4.2% in annual terms and totaled 24,496 rubles ($380.5). The average monthly salary was registered in the amount of 41,420 rubles ($643.4), up 5.2% in nominal terms and up 0.2% in real terms against January 2018.

Real income of Russians dropped 0.2% in 2018. The last year therefore became the fifth year of the continuous decline in real income of the population.

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