What the state is getting richer: the level of Russians' welfare has increased
The level of welfare of Russian citizens in 2024 has increased significantly. Almost half of Russians have increased their incomes. At the same time, they have learned to set themselves more serious financial goals for terms of a year and beyond. Such results were shown by the second measurement of the index of financial achievements, research "PSB Blagosostoyanie", aimed at assessing the financial literacy of Russians and their ability to effectively manage their personal budgets. The most competent in these matters were residents of Voronezh, Moscow and Nizhny Novgorod. Details - in the material "Izvestia".
Wealth growth
According to the results of the index (the survey was conducted in October among 3.8 thousand respondents in 32 subjects of the Federation), in 2024 Russians managed to significantly improve their well-being. One third of respondents saw their incomes increase by 10%, one in eight - by 30%, 4% managed to increase their incomes by 50%, and 1% doubled their incomes. In total, 46% of Russians have increased their incomes in 2024 compared to 38% in 2023. Another 42% of respondents' wealth remained at the level of the previous year.
51% of Russians - 3 percentage points more than last year - now own their own homes, unencumbered by any mortgages. Another 9% have a mortgage loan for an apartment or house paid more than half, 14% - less than 50%. It is interesting that the announced in advance termination of preferential mortgages almost did not affect the decision of Russians to take new loans. Only 6% of respondents managed to take advantage of the low rates for the purchase of housing this year. However, another 18% are going to take a family mortgage under the new conditions by the end of the year.
The value of the main property of Russians (real estate, cars, securities, etc.) has grown over the year: 76% of respondents have it exceeds the size of existing debt obligations (at that, 66% of them - significantly). This indicator has almost doubled over the year: at the end of 2023, only 38.5% of respondents said that the value of their assets is much higher than the size of loans. Overall, 44% of Russians have no outstanding loans (up 1 percentage point from last year), and another 33% are servicing only one loan.
Improved financial literacy has enabled Russians to move toward long-term planning. At the end of 2023, 44% of respondents had no financial goals or plans to achieve them at all. Now there are only 23% of such respondents. The number of respondents who make plans for a year or more, on the contrary, has grown over the past year by 18 percentage points, to 49%. At the same time, the share of respondents who have enough financial cushion for a year is now 11% (vs. 8% in 2023), while the number of respondents who have no savings at all decreased by 6 percentage points over the year, to 32%.
40% of respondents reported having bank deposits. At the same time, since the beginning of 2024, 36% of respondents have increased their deposits, while 26% have reduced them. 45% have health and life insurance policies. Almost a quarter of respondents have passive income, and another 37% expect to provide it soon. Only 39% do not count on income from investments.
28% of Russians are engaged in investing, which beats quite well with the statistics of accounts on the Moscow Exchange, where about a third of the economically active population is represented. However, almost two thirds invest relatively small amounts - less than 100 thousand rubles. Only 8% are engaged in investments of more than half a million rubles.
Among financial products, citizens most often used a debit card (40%). 32% used a credit card, while 26% used a salary or student card. 16% of respondents have a bank deposit, and 10% took a consumer loan. No financial products were used by 26%.
Voronezh is the leader in literacy
In general, according to the method of calculating the index, Russians scored 46.1 points this year, which corresponds to the second "adult grade" on a scale that uses a system of qualifications similar to great sport. Respondents received the highest scores for their ability to manage their debt load (83.8 points, +2.8 points to the 2023 level), property value (70 points, +17), owning their own home (63 points, +1) and income dynamics (56.5 points, +0.5). The total value of the index increased by 2.3 points compared to the first survey.
The Voronezh Region (50.2 points) became the leading region in terms of financial literacy. Three quarters of respondents there have their own housing, not burdened with mortgage loans, more than half have bank deposits, 27% are engaged in investing. Over the last year, 44% of Voronezh Oblast residents managed to increase their income: 30% of them increased their income by up to 10%, and 6% - by up to 30%. Thanks to planning and competent financial management 36% of respondents regularly make savings. The most popular way of saving remains a bank deposit, which 52% of the region's residents have.
Moscow came second (49.4 points). More than 70% of respondents in the capital either have no loans at all or service only one loan.
Muscovites skillfully manage their debt load and mostly spend less than 30% of their income on payments.
The Nizhny Novgorod Oblast (49.4 points) rounds out the top three. Every fourth Nizhny Novgorod resident has a financial safety cushion that will last at least six months. More than half of Nizhny Novgorod residents (55%) prefer to keep their savings in bank deposits. At the same time, 24% of residents save 5-10% of their income every month, while 49% do it irregularly and in different amounts. As for the debt load, 48% of Nizhny Novgorod residents have no outstanding loans at all, which indicates a stable financial situation of a significant part of the population.
Last year, the top three regions were St. Petersburg (49.1 points), Chechnya (46.2 points) and the Kaliningrad Oblast (46.1 points). This year's leaders in 2023 ranked eighth, ninth and sixth, respectively.
