At the top of the list: Russia's top 35 sustainable regions have been named
YNAO, NAO, Chukotka and Magadan Oblast became the leaders among Russian regions in terms of socio-economic sustainability at the end of the third quarter. This study was prepared by the Civil Society Foundation (CSF) on the basis of data from the Ministry of Finance, Rosstat, the Federal Treasury and the Federal Tax Service. As noted in the study, Russians have increased the index of well-being. This is explained by the redistribution of income of the population, the emergence of a new middle class, working, among other things, in the defense industry.
In which regions are the highest wages and cost of living
The most stable regions of Russia in terms of socio-economic development are the YNAO, NAO and Chukotka (shared second place), as well as the Magadan region. Such a study was prepared by the Civil Society Development Foundation (CSDF), having determined the top-35 subjects by this indicator at the end of the third quarter of 2024. The document was reviewed by Izvestia. The rating is based on the average wage, subsistence minimum, and the ratio of the regional product (the sum of shipped goods, produced works and rendered services by regions) to the number of economically active population.
The top ten included Sakhalin Oblast, Moscow and Khanty-Mansi Autonomous Okrug (sharing the fifth place), St. Petersburg, Murmansk Oblast and Yakutia (these two regions are on the seventh line), Krasnoyarsk Krai, Tatarstan, as well as Moscow, Irkutsk Oblast and Komi Oblast, which shared the tenth place.
Kamchatka Krai, Leningrad and Tyumen Oblasts, Sverdlovsk, Kemerovo and Amur Oblasts sharing 14th place, as well as Tula Oblast, Khabarovsk Krai, Lipetsk, Chelyabinsk, Tomsk Oblasts and Perm Krai were in the second ten of the survey.
The third ten include Belgorod, Vologda, Kaluga, Novosibirsk Regions, Zabaikalsky Krai, Samara Region and Primorsky Krai (shared 26th place), Bashkiria, Khakassia, Nizhny Novgorod Region and Udmurtia. The Orenburg, Tver, Astrakhan, Ryazan and Arkhangelsk Oblasts close the survey.
Chukotka
According to the study, the leaders in terms of average wages are Chukotka, YNAO, Moscow, Magadan Oblast and NAO.
- Resource-producing regions and both capitals traditionally continue to lead in terms of socio-economic sustainability due to relatively high per capita output and high wages. Krasnoyarsk Krai (from the 12th position earlier), Tatarstan (from the 16th position), Moscow Oblast (from the 14th position), Komi (from the 11th position), Irkutsk Oblast (from the 13th position) have moved up to the top ten leaders at the end of nine months," explained Konstantin Kostin, head of FORGO, to Izvestia.
According to him, a number of subjects took the first places by certain criteria: Nenets Autonomous Okrug is the leader by sales per capita for the third quarter in a row, Chukotka Autonomous Okrug is the leader by average monthly salary, YNAO is the leader by the ratio of average monthly salary to the minimum cost of living or social well-being index.
Konstantin Kostin noted that the index of industrial production in September 2024 to September 2023 amounted to 103.2, the shipment of own-produced goods (excluding VAT) increased by Br21.46 trillion per person, or 17%, while the value of manufactured and shipped goods per capita of the economically active population for the same period in the country as a whole increased from Br862.5 thousand to Br1.01 million per person (by 17.2%).
Also, according to him, the average monthly salary in Russia as a whole for the same period increased by 18.4% - from Br69.4 thousand to Br82.2 thousand, while the cost of living (a fixed set of goods and services), according to Rosstat, increased from Br21 thousand to Br23 thousand (+9.5%).
Therefore, as a consequence, the index of social well-being (the ratio of the average monthly salary to the cost of living) in Russia as a whole increased over the year from 3.31 to 3.58, the expert explained.
Why the index of well-being of the population is growing
Experts generally agree with the results of the study. Thus, the head of the "Political Expert Group" Konstantin Kalachev, called them quite logical, but noted that there are questions about the places of individual regions.
- For example, Kamchatka Krai, which was ranked 11th, seems overrated to me, while Tyumen Oblast, ranked 13th, is undervalued. But if we talk about the leaders of the rating, then the FERGO's assessments fully coincide with my ideas," the expert explained to Izvestia.
According to him, if one considers that sustainable development of a region is the ability to withstand various influences, including, for example, inflation, or it is the achievement of a higher point in development, a steady improvement in the quality of life of the population and ensuring the expanded reproduction of the territorial-economic complex, then it is difficult to disagree with the places of the subjects in the study.
As an example, he cited the high results of Komi, which took one place with the Moscow Region. In the republic today 16.4% of families are considered to be well provided for. Even in the Moscow region there are 11.4% of them, the expert explained.
At the same time, Konstantin Kalachev called the growth of the social well-being index "the average temperature in the hospital". According to him, due to the economic situation in Russia, the old middle class is being eroded, but a new middle class is emerging, connected with participation in the SWO, work in the defense industry and so on.
Georgy Ostapkovich, Director of the Center for Conjunctural Research at the Institute of Economic Research of the National Research University Higher School of Economics, noted that in general the top ten is not changing much.
- It is obvious that Russia has permanent regional leaders. Unfortunately or fortunately, these are strong resource subjects, which, as a rule, are located "near the pipe". That is, those who are engaged in raw material extraction, the most profitable industry, which always brings the highest dividends not only to the industry, but also to the population," the expert explained.
According to him, these subjects are the leaders in terms of income of citizens, so the results of the study are logical. As for the index of social well-being, the expert called it realistic. Such growth in wages and incomes as in 2023-2024 has not been observed in the country since 2013, the economist noted.
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