MOSCOW: The number of dollar millionaires in Russia has risen by 10% last year compared to 2015, to 132,000 people, according to a survey by the Russian Presidential Academy of National Economy and Public Administration. The academy’s Institute of Social Analysis and Forecasting presented its survey of the social and economic situation in Russia at a news conference in TASS Thursday. “According to Knight Frank Research, the number of dollar millionairews in Russia increased by 10% as compared with the previous year, and stood at 132,000 people (or 0.1% of the population above the age of 15), while the number of individuals with the capital of $1 billion and higher increased by 11% and stood at 83 people,” the survey reads. At the same time, the number of billionaires in Europe declined by four percent. “For comparison: the overall number of dollar millionaires worldwide increased in 2016 as compared with 2015 only by 3%, while in Europe their number declined by 4%,” the research says. In the past decade, the number of individuals whose wealth is estimated at more than $1 million increased by 31%, compared to the growth of 86% in Australia and Oceania, 84% in the Asia-Pacific region, 41% in Latin America, 31% in North America and 13% in Europe.
The research is based on the analysis of statistical data obtained by Russia’s federal statistics service Rosstat, the Central Bank, the Treasury of Russia, the Russian Interior Ministry and other state agencies. A similar report by Credit Suisse, released in November 2016, said that only 0.007% of the Russian population, or 94,000 people have wealth of $1 million or more. According to the bank, the number of dollar millionaires in Russia declined by 16% in Russia and grew 1.8% worldwide.
Institute of Social Analysis and Forecasting chief Tatyana Maleva attributed the difference between the two surveys to the difference in the methods of research. “A decline of 16% is less likely than growth, because the difference in incomes, including super-high incomes, normally increases during crises. In times of a crisis and high inflation, people with high and super high incomes have more instruments for keeping and multiplying their wealth,” she said. “A crisis always leads to social differentiation. The poor are getting poorer while the rich are getting richer,” Maleva added.
