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Coronavirus pandemic

Russians reduce their spending by third in self-isolation in April

VTB Bank reported that purchases in offline stores decreased the most - by 35% in annual terms

© Vladimir Gerdo/TASS

MOSCOW, May 19. /TASS/. During the period of self-isolation in April, Russians reduced their spending by 34% compared to April last year, according to a press release from VTB Bank.

According to the report, the volume of customers’ salaries in April did not change significantly, while card transactions decreased by 34%. Online orders also showed negative dynamics, primarily due to almost halving the cost of airline tickets and a decline of 1.5-fold for transport. At the same time, spending on food increased by 25%, and more than doubled on alcohol, the report said.

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At the same time, salaries of VTB customers in April decreased by 3% compared to March, but increased by 5% compared to April last year.

According to Chairman of the Board of VTB Anatoly Pechatnikov, consumer activity of Russians in April shows their desire to save. At the same time, expenses fell sharply, and in almost all segments - the usual expenses are either completely canceled or postponed to a later date, he added.

According to VTB, in April, purchases in offline stores decreased the most - by 35% in annual terms. Online orders fell by 30%, although their share in the total volume of transactions increased by 11 percentage points to 34%.

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