ST. PETERSBURG, June 20. /TASS/. Since 2000, the number of people living below the poverty line in Russia has decreased from 42.3 million to 10.5 million, and while this is a positive indicator, the government can and will do more to bring this number further down, President Vladimir Putin said at the plenary session of the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum (SPIEF).
"Based on the results of the first quarter of this year, compared to the same indicator a year ago, the number of citizens with incomes below the subsistence minimum has decreased by more than two million people," the President said.
"Our Russian colleagues from the meeting today know, but I will repeat this for our guests: in 2000 the poverty rate in Russia was 29%. In that, let’s be honest, humiliating situation, there were 42.3 million people. Based on data from 2024, this number is no longer 29%, but 7.2%. And we don’t have 42.3 million people, but 10.5 million people. Well, of course, we must strive to reduce this figure as well," he said.
He added that a further reduction of this indicator is planned.
"We are going to do so, to reduce it to 7% and then to 5%," Putin said.