The retail market added 13 percent in 2006 to reach the sales of 8,627.5 billion rubles.
Photo: Nikolay Cyiganov
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Growing Incomes Spur Russia’s Booming Retail
The personal income in Russia went up 10 percent in 2006, compared to an 11.1-percent rise in 2005. The growth is still phenomenal and able to keep retail sales growing 13 percent faster than in the European Union, the Russian statistics agency said on Friday. However, the year 2007 is expected to bring a sharper decline in the income growth.
The cash income in Russian grew 10 percent in 2006, down from the 11.1-percent rise in 2005, according to the data from the Federal Statistics Service. Experts attribute the decline to slower growth rates of the elderly’s incomes. Under preliminary estimates, pensioners’ income went up 5 percent last year, compared to 9.8 percent in 2005, which is largely due to the pension reform which introduced allocations to the pension fund.
In contract, salaries boosted the income growth last year. According to the official data, the nominal average monthly wage was 10,700 rubles in 2006, 24.5 percent up, compared to the indicators in 2005. In real term, salaries in Russia went up 13.5 percent over the year.
Higher incomes have spurred the growth of retail. “Retail growth rates are stunning,” Igor Polyakov, an expert at the Center for Financial and Economic Research, says. “There is not a country in Euro with such high indicators of retail sales growth.” Retail sales added 13 percent in 2006 to reach 8,627.5 billion rubles.
www.kommersant.com
All the Article in Russian as of Jan. 29, 2007
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