A ranking of countries by wealth has been compiled. Belarusians were classified as poor nations. More and more people in Belarus live below the poverty line Who falls into the poverty zone

The most important factor for the country is the environmental one, connected with the consequences of the accident at the Chernobyl nuclear power plant and the need for additional funds for people living in the affected areas.

Experts identify two methods for determining the level of poverty (table).

How Belstat works

When calculating the poverty rate in the country, an absolute approach is used. For the assessment, the average value of the PM budget per capita is used. In 2020, the latter in the republic is 1,697,000 bel. rubles. The subsistence level per capita is 169.

Against this background, the poverty rate in Belarus today is 5%. In 2016, this figure was 6.2%, in 2017 - 5.4%.

To get a complete picture of the situation in the Republic of Belarus, it is recommended to consider the relative level of poverty. Regional differences should also be taken into account.

These calculations help:

  • Identify the most vulnerable categories of citizens.
  • To see the provoking factors of impoverishment.
  • Decide on the methods of social policy.

A difficult situation

Belarus is a poor country. Almost every second citizen spends about 200 Bel per month. rubles. One US dollar today costs 2.13 bel. ruble.

According to data provided by the World Bank, the poverty line is $1.9/24 hours, $50 per month.

According to statistics, more than 520,000 Belarusians already live below the poverty line.

Income Information

The most important economic indicator is the real disposable income of the population. The well-being of citizens is determined precisely by them.

Per capita disposable resources by regions, in %

RRD is the difference between mandatory contributions to the state budget and all monetary income of citizens.

In the summer - autumn of 2018, there was a steady decline in real disposable income by 7%.

General indicators look like this:

  • Wages - 62%.
  • Enterprise income - 8.3%.
  • Pension contributions, benefits, scholarships - 23.1%.
  • Other income - 5.8%.

Falling wages

According to statistics provided by Belstat, it is 749.2 bel. ruble. Compared to last year, it decreased by 4%.

The poorest are:

  • museum workers;
  • archivists;
  • librarians.

Their salary amounted to 419 Belarusian rubles. Salaries in agriculture decreased by 11.7% compared to last year.

Male and female

According to Belstat statistics, Belarusian men are more likely to fall below the poverty line and receive the status of unemployed.

In 2020, the actual unemployment rate among males was 7.3%, among women - 3.9%.

Composition of the unemployed by age groups

By the beginning of 2020, there were 33,700 people in the country who had the official status of unemployed, 22,400 of them were men. Against this background, the percentage of the poor among the latter is 6.8, among women - 4.9.

The total number of people below the poverty line has risen steadily since 2014.

Information about the gap in earnings of both sexes is presented in the table.

Year Gap %
2013 74,7
2014 75,6
2015 76,3
2016 77,7
2017 74,7
2018 75,9

The gap in pension contributions (for women, the pension is lower) is as follows:

  1. 2013 - 95,8 %.
  2. 2014 - 97,6 %.
  3. 2015 - 98,4 %.
  4. 2016 - 98,6 %.
  5. 2017 - 98,8 %.
  6. 2018 - 98,9 %.

The poorest areas

Experts identify the 20 poorest regions of the country.

Region Monthly salary (Bel. R.)
Loevskaya 1070
Voronovskaya 1103
Stolinskaya 1119
Kopylskaya 1120
Khoiniki 1122
Ivyevskaya 1126
Svislochskaya 1139
Mstislavskaya 1140
Braginskaya 1140
Korelichskaya 1144
Zelvenskaya 1146
Dobrushskaya 1149
Slavogorodskaya 1155
Krasnopolskaya 1156
Yelskaya 1158
Sharkovschinskaya 1160
Kletskaya 1162
Bobruisk 1164
Gantsevichskaya 1164

The first lines in the top are occupied by the Chernobyl zones. This factor is amazing.

According to Belstat, the poorest region of Belarus is the Kormyansky district. The average salary level here is 1039 bel. r., or 130 dollars.

The poorest cities

The poorest cities are those with a population of 100,000 or less:

Station Gomel, Belarus

Who is at risk

The most socially vulnerable groups of Belarusian citizens include:

  • Children.
  • Persons over 60 years of age.
  • Single parents.
  • Unemployed people of working age.
  • Persons with poor education.
  • Inhabitants of villages and villages.

The risk of relative poverty for these categories is 56%, absolute - 34%.


The vulnerable position of minors is associated with state support and employment of fathers and mothers.

The amount of state support is not very high. Generally, benefits are provided for children under the age of three. This helps to temporarily solve the problem of poverty of a particular individual, but not of a household.

The second type of state support is targeted social assistance. The maximum period of its provision is 6 months / 1 year.



Without money, it will not be possible to reform the economy, and without reforms, there will be no money.

According to Belstat, compared to last year, the material resources of households (in other words, families) increased by an average of about $80. But does this mean that people began to live better?

According to a study by Belstat, in the first half of 2018, disposable resources per household amounted to 1170 rubles per month, including in cities and urban-type settlements - 1250.1 rubles per month, in rural areas - 962.9 rubles per month .

In the first half of 2017, these figures were lower: 1,014.1 rubles on average per household, 1,085.8 rubles in cities, and 825.3 rubles in villages.

It turns out that over the past year, the monthly resources of households increased by an average of 156 rubles (about $80).

What did you spend on?

One household spent an average of 1,104.8 rubles per month, of which 831.5 rubles (75.3%) accounted for consumer spending. 40.3% of funds were spent on food, 30.6% on non-food items, and 26% on payment for services. A year earlier, the share of expenses for food was 42%, for the purchase of things - 29.9%, for services - 25.1%.

Reducing the share of spending on food is a good trend. For comparison: in 1995, Belarusians ate up more than 60% of their income, and by the end of 2010 this figure dropped to 36.8%. But a series of crises in the first half of the 2010s again forced Belarusians to spend more on food. In 2015, this figure was 41.9%, in 2016 - 41.5%.

Despite the fact that the share of food costs is declining, we still have to reach the developed European countries, as far as the moon. For example, the indicator of Luxembourg - 8.6%, Switzerland - 12%.

The share of spending on food is likely to decrease in the future. But not because of a decrease in food prices, but in connection with the reformatting of the cost structure due to an increase in tariffs for housing and communal services.

By the end of the year, the tariffs at which the population pays for housing and communal services will cover 76.3% of their cost. Such data are given in the latest issue of the journal "Economic Bulletin", published by the Research Economic Institute (NIEI) of the Ministry of Economy.

“According to the data of the Ministry of Antimonopoly Regulation and Trade, as a result of the increase in tariffs, as well as the measures taken to reduce costs, by the end of 2018, the level of reimbursement by the population for the provision of housing and communal services will reach 76.3%,”- experts of the NIEI of the Ministry of Economy note.

In 2017, this figure was 69.7%. Naturally, an increase in the share will also entail an increase in the costs of households for utilities.

Who falls into the poverty zone?

In fact, the categories classified by the state as the poorest segments of the population were determined by a presidential decree signed in June this year. The document expanded the categories of citizens eligible for non-cash housing subsidies.

Along with non-working pensioners, non-working disabled adults, non-cash subsidies will be provided to families raising children under three years of age, disabled children under 18, as well as those receiving benefits for the care of disabled people of the first group and persons who have reached the age of 80.

However, this list does not include the unemployed, among whom the risk of poverty is very high. At the end of July 2018, the number of registered (registered at the labor exchange) unemployed was 16.6 thousand people, which is 46.9% (almost twice) less than on August 1, 2017 (31.2 thousand people).

However, adequate calculation methods indicate more significant unemployment figures - almost 300 thousand people according to 2017 data.


All these people remain outside the scope of the state's attention in terms of providing assistance in paying utility bills. Unemployment benefits for those officially registered (the maximum amount is two basic units - 49 rubles) should not be taken seriously as a source of income.

Last year, according to statistical data, the proportion of the poor population slightly increased, with the exception of those living in rural areas, where they survive largely through household plots.


Who can be trapped in poverty

Natalia Ryabova, director of the SYMPA School of Young Managers of Public Administration, which operates the BIPART research project and the Kosht ​​Urada website dedicated to public finance, notes that the state supports those in need, but not on the scale that we would like, and not always those who need it. who would be needed.

Thus, according to the Ministry of Labor, in the first half of 2018, 47.68 million rubles of state targeted social assistance was allocated, which was received by 161,831 people, the majority (75,095 people) in the form of an allowance for the purchase of diapers. 45,653 people received monthly benefits, for which the state spent 12.38 million rubles, that is, about 271 rubles per person for six months, or 45 rubles per month.

Traditionally, the main recipients of monthly and one-time social benefits are large families and single-parent families raising minor children. They accounted for 67.4% of the total number of recipients of these benefits last year. The share of single pensioners and disabled people is 4.7% (6.4 thousand people).

“Families with not one, but several children, traditionally find themselves in the worst situation compared to others. I would also mention the residents of the village, who largely survive due to additional work on the household plot, and all the lonely pensioners left without family support. Students who are forced to live only on scholarships, the unemployed, whose benefits are at the level of statistical error - they are all at risk of poverty.

Despite the obvious vulnerability of some categories, the expert still considers it more objective to allocate state assistance based not on the social category, but on the financial situation.

She cited as an example the subsidization of housing and communal services, which is important for vulnerable groups, but in “In some cases, taking into account the calculation of the amount of subsidies for the area of ​​\u200b\u200bthe apartment, not only poor, but also quite wealthy citizens receive support.”

Another example is pumping money into unprofitable enterprises instead of supporting the unemployed at a decent level. Ryabova recalled that the possibility of unemployment insurance was actively discussed in Belarus, but the issue hung.

According to the expert, it has become obvious to the authorities that unemployment insurance in the form of another tax will become an additional burden on the wage fund of enterprises, whose social taxes are already high.

“So support for inefficient industries continues. This suitcase without a handle would have been thrown away long ago if not for the threat that crowds of people would find themselves on the street without a livelihood. In fact, the poverty trap is that there is a vicious circle - without money it will not be possible to reform the economy, and without reforms there will be no money,”- concluded Natalia Ryabova.

His annual Global Wealth Report. The first three lines of the rating were occupied by Switzerland, Australia and the USA. Experts attributed Belarus to the group of poor countries with the level of wealth per adult below 5 thousand dollars.

Credit Suisse considers both financial assets (such as bank deposits) and non-financial assets (such as real estate) to determine wealth levels. Moreover, according to experts, it is real estate that the rating compilers take into account incorrectly for post-Soviet countries, where most households, even without, for example, deposits, and even more so shares, own real estate, the market valuation of which can be high.

Experts included such countries as Ukraine, Mali, Niger, Chad, Sudan, Egypt, Ethiopia, Nigeria into the same group with Belarus.

According to the online edition finance.ua, Ukraine and Belarus share the 123rd line of the rating out of 140 countries: wealth per capita in the two countries is $1,563 per adult.

It should be noted that Belarus has previously been included in the group of poor countries.

The richest countries are those with a per capita wealth of more than $100,000.

Switzerland turned out to be the richest country in the world, with a little more than 530 thousand dollars per adult. Australia came in second with $411,000 and the United States came in third with $404,000. Belgium, Norway and New Zealand followed.

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Request text: " I would like more information about Belarus. All sorts of "nezalEzhnye" media tell about us or nothing, or a lie. I would like the truth about our calm, really independent and benevolent Blue-eyed."

We continue, now not a very positive post ... although I read your posts about meat consumption and the number of cars in Belarus - but there is such information ..

2012 - Belarus is in the 10th place of the poorest countries in the world.

Business Insider published its annual World Poverty Index 2012. Greece, which is experiencing the worst economic times in its history, was not included in the list of the most unfortunate countries, but Belarus was on the 10th line of the rating. Record inflation in 2011 - 52.4% allowed Belarus to fall so low in this rather controversial economic rating. In addition, experts have calculated that more than half of Belarusians (53.4%) live below the poverty line.

The welfare level of a country is calculated based on the number of unemployed and the rate of inflation.

That is, the faster the national currency falls in price, the lower the state falls in international financial ratings, writes "Market Leader".

Zimbabwe is the poorest country in 2012. In this country, almost 100% of the population lives below the extreme poverty line, and the unemployment rate has reached 95%.

It is worth adding that according to Belstatan data for May 2012, the highest salaries in Belarus in the Soligorsk region are more than 5.5 million rubles. And the lowest ones are in Kormyansky. Here, the average salary in the first quarter of this year amounted to 1.985 million rubles.


2013 - Belarus is already in the 5th place of the poorest countries in the world.

The Misery Index-2013 compiled by the company includes 197 countries of the world, but Belarus is the only European country in the top five. Another post-Soviet republic - Turkmenistan (4th place) got into the TOP-5 of the rating. The rating also includes the Serbian province of Kosovo recognized by the US and the EU (9th place). In 20th place - Bosnia and Herzegovina. According to the explanations for the publication, when compiling the rating, Business Insider was guided by the methodology of economist Arthur Orkum, distributing countries according to the results of summing up inflation and unemployment data.

It should be noted that, according to official data, less than 1% of the total number of economically active population is registered in Belarus, but independent experts do not consider this indicator to reflect Belarusian realities. However, the American company assumed 1% unemployment and 70% inflation.

According to Belstat, in 2012 inflation was just under 23%. In January 2013, the unemployment rate in Belarus, according to Belstat, was also below 1% (0.7% at the end of January 2012 and 0.6% in January 2013), and inflation did not exceed 3% (with an annual forecast inflation at 12%).

As Alexander Lukashenko said at a meeting of the Council of Ministers on March 1, "since the beginning of 2011, by now the Belarusian ruble has devalued 2.9 times. At the same time, consumer prices have grown 2.6 times. Including food products - almost 3 times times".

2013 - Belarus is the second in the ranking of the poorest countries in Europe in terms of the purchasing power of the population.

According to the GfK study "Purchasing power in Europe: 2012-2013", the lowest purchasing power is among residents of Moldova, Belarus and Kosovo.

On Wednesday, the GfK research “Purchasing power in Europe: 2012-2013” ​​was published, which analyzed this indicator in 42 countries of the continent. It turned out that the richest in Europe are citizens of Liechtenstein. They in 2012 have a purchasing power of 57 thousand euros per capita.

According to ukrinform, Luxembourg, Denmark, Austria, Sweden, Germany, France and Belgium are also in the top ten European countries with the highest level of purchasing power.

Recall that 42 countries “participated” in the study. So, places No. 40 and 41 were divided among themselves, Kosovo, which did not even celebrate the fifth anniversary of independence, as well as Belarus. The purchasing power in the countries is approximately 2,000 euros per person. The worst situation is in Moldova. The average citizen of the country can afford to spend no more than 1257 euros per year on goods and services.

At the same time, the average level of purchasing power in Europe, according to GfK, is 12,802 euros, which corresponds to the capabilities of citizens of a country like Spain.

Salary in Belarus



It turned out that the highest incomes are now in Poland - already under a thousand euros. Estonians earn 80 euros less on average.

We were surprised by the salaries of Russians: on average, they turned out to be higher than the salaries of Latvians and Lithuanians. And Ukrainians in December received an average of 30 euros more than Belarusians.

Unfortunately, our salaries turned out to be the smallest. At the same time, even if on average we earn the promised $500 (or 375 euros), we will not catch up with the Europeans, but we will get ahead of the Ukrainians.

Belarus is the most inaccessible, unknown and underestimated country in Europe

One of the most reputable publishing houses, Lonely Planet, has not yet released a single guide to Belarus. In the 2000 guide to three countries: Russia, Belarus and Ukraine, the authors singled out 39 out of almost 800 pages for Belarusian sights and routes.

There are other "mass graves": the Lonely Planet guide to Eastern Europe, where Belarus neighbors 16 countries, and the guide to budget European destinations, of which there are 45 in the guide, including Belarus (the latest 7th edition was published in October 2011) . If you wish, you can download a pdf version of the chapter on Belarus from both guides for only three British pounds.

By the way, according to Lonely Planet, the country is primarily known for its dictator-president Lukashenko and the tragic consequences of the Chernobyl accident, as well as as a "reserve of the Soviet era" and "a farm for growing supermodels." At the same time, among the few interesting facts about Belarus, Marc Chagall is several positions below ... kvass. However, another publishing house that enjoys authority among foreign tourists - Dorling Kindersley - generally ignores the existence of Belarus.

In the world's largest online store Amazon, you can also find, for example, the Insight Guides for 2000 for Russia and Belarus with Ukraine, where several pages are devoted to Grodno and Minsk. Last year saw the release of the first guide to Belarus in Arabic, prepared as a joint project of the Italian publishing house Nur Edizione and the Belarusian "Riftur". The first for many years guide to Belarus "Step by Step", published in Russia, was published not so long ago by the publishing house "JEM". At the moment, another Russian specialized publishing house - "Polyglot" - is also preparing to issue a guide to Belarus.

However, traditional paper guides are becoming less relevant every year, and a lot of tourist information portals appear on the Web that give advice for free. However, the quality of information sometimes leaves much to be desired. For example, on one of these portals, which Google searches for "Belarus travel guide" among the first 10 results, it is still advised to dine in a restaurant on the top floor of the Belarus Hotel to enjoy national cuisine and a magnificent panorama of the city. Moreover, the authors of this online guide with the "unpretentious" title Europe Travel Guide advise you to buy a matryoshka and local delicacies in Belarus as a souvenir: vodka, caviar, chocolate, "Soviet champagne" and marshmallows, although in the "About us" section it is said that one of the co-authors of this online guide was born and raised in Minsk.

Purchasing Power Europe 2017, which analyzed revenues in 42 European countries. The European average was 13,937 euros per year, or 1,161 euros per month.

The residents of Liechtenstein have the best income with 63,267 euros per year. And the Ukrainians have the worst situation - the average annual income there, according to GfK, is 949 euros.

Belarusians, alas, are in the top three countries with the lowest income. According to a German research company, the average Belarusian lives on 2,558 euros a year, or 213 euros per month.

The description of the study states that the data are taken mainly from the national statistical agencies of different countries, which adhere to the European scoring system adopted in 2010 (ESA 2010). Regarding our country, GfK clarified that they use Belstat data.

I must say that in October, according to Belstat, the average salary in Belarus amounted to 841 rubles, or 364 euros at the average rate of the National Bank. But such a low salary, as in the rating, we had only in March 2006 (216 euros).

The experts who worked on the study could also take the median salary (see STAY INFORMATION!). The last time it was counted in November 2016, and then it was 528.3 denominated rubles, or 252 euros. This is much closer to the figure that was named in GfK.

STAY IN TOUCH!

What is median salary?

It shows how much most people actually get. For example, if one receives 100 rubles, the second 200, the third - 300, and the fourth - 2000, then the average salary will be 650 rubles, and the median - 200. Most often, national statistical agencies calculate just the median salary.

AND AT THIS TIME

Trade unions: almost 200 organizations in Belarus did not pay salaries on time

The report says that in October of this year, 178 organizations across the country did not pay salaries to their employees on time.

According to the FPB, state organizations were also among the debtors. For example, in the housing department No. 1 of the Oktyabrsky district of Minsk, the terms of payment of salaries and vacation pay are constantly violated, there are questions with the final payment upon dismissal. The trade unionists name the reason as follows: lack of working capital, delay in transfers from the treasury.

So, at the Minsk Experimental Fittings Plant there is an overdue debt on the payment of wages for August and September of this year. During these months, the employer paid the employees only 1.5 of the subsistence minimum budget. A similar situation is in the organizations of the regional rural construction of the Grodno region. Among the most problematic are also the organizations Unibox, Stroyka Veka and LLC Promstroyexport».