The minimum wage in Russia

You might have read our blog post about the normal Russian salary. But, of course, also many people in Russia make less money than what is considered normal. The minimum wage in Russia is provided for by law. The law that arranges the minimum wage in Russia is entitled the Federal Law on Minimum Pay for Labour (Federal Law Number 83-FZ from 19 June 2000 (Further to be called the law on minimum wages).

So what is the minimum wage in Russia? According to Article 1 of the law on minimum wages, the minimum wage in Russia from 1 January 2020 may not be lower than 12,130 rubles per month. According to the current exchange rate this is the equivalent of about $196 USD or about €175 euro.

Usually, the minimum wage in Russia is enlarged every year, to at least compensate for inflation. At the moment of writing the minimum wage for 2020 has not yet been confirmed, but according to the current proposal, it is planned to enlarge the minimum wage in Russia 2020 with 7,5% to 12,130 rubles ($190 USD or €172 euro, according to the current exchange rate).

On This Page

• Minimum wage in the Russian regions
• How Minimum Wage in Russia Changed Over the Years
• Changes to Minimum Wage in Moscow Over the Years
• Changes to Minimum Wage in Saint Petersburg Over the Years
• Working For the Minimum Wage is Not Normal

The minimum wage in the Russian regions

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Russian regions are not allowed to have a lower minimum wage than provided for by Article 1 of the law on minimum wage. They are, however, allowed to have a higher minimum wage. Some, but not many, Russian regions have made use of this opportunity to install a higher minimum wage.

How Minimum Wage in Russia Changed Over the Years

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Maybe it would be interesting to have a small overview of how the minimum monthly wage in Russia has developed over the years. If you look at the numbers in the table below, you probably can’t help but notice the fallback in Russian minimum wage if converted in dollars or euros starting from 2015. This was the impact of the fall the ruble. Only in 2018 minimum wage in Russia converted in dollars or in euros back on pre-crisis levels.

Changes to Minimum Wage in Moscow Over the Years

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As is clear from the overview in the big table, Moscow has the highest minmum wage of the whole country. But how has the minimum wage in Moscow changed over the years? Have a look:

By looking at this table we can conclude that minimum wage in Moscow is currently still a bit below crisis level.

Changes to Minimum Wage in Saint Petersburg

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From the tables above it is clear that Saint Petersburg has a higher minimum wage than the minimum for the country. But how has the minimum wage in Russia’s northern capital developed over the years?

Recently Aleksandr Beglov, the Governor of Saint Petersburg, announced that the minimum wage in Saint Petersburg will be raised to 19 thousand rubles (source). This means that the minimum wage in Saint Petersburg will be 36% higher than the nationwide minimum wage.

By looking at the table above we can clearly see that the minimum wage in Saint Petersburg was back on pre-crisis levels already in 2017, whereas in Moscow current minimum wage is still below pre-crisis levels in 2020! On the other hand, obviously in absolute numbers the minimum wage in Moscow is still higher than the minimum wage in Saint Petersburg.

If we look of the percentage of the increase of the minimum wage in rubles in Saint Petersburg we get a significant number: 19,000 – 8,326 = 10,624/8,326 x 100= a 127,6% increase in the minimum wage in Saint Petersburg (between 2013 and 2020)! Now, obviously the numbers look less impressive when taking into account the equivalent in dollars or euro, but still, not so bad. If we compare this with the increase of the minumum wage in Moscow: 20,195 – 11,700= 8495/11,700 x 100 = a 72,6% percentage of the minimum wage in Moscow in the period 2013-2020. So the percentage increase of the minimum wage in Saint Petersburg was over 55% larger in the period 2013-2020 than it was in Moscow! I understand this can be explained by the fact that the numbers of the minimum wage in Moscow were larger to begin with. Still numbers don’t lie.

But can one actually support oneself while earning minimum wage in Saint Petersburg? Probably not. Not if you don’t have rent a place to live at least. Check out my blog post about whether Saint Petersburg is expensive if you would like to see some more details about this.

Working For the Minimum Wage is Not Normal

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As I explained in my blog post about the normal salary in Russia, the minimum wage is not the same as the normal salary. Russia is not such a cheap country. The country imports a lot, which makes many products and food in Russia more expensive than in other countries. So, logically not many people are prepared to work for minimum wage.