More than in Tunisia: Russians spend over a quarter of their income on food

The website of the global analytical service EOM published data on how much of their income is spent on food by residents of different countries of the world. In fact, these figures are a very good, albeit indirect, indicator of the real incomes of the population. The picture in Russia does not look very happy.

On average, Russians spend more than a quarter of their income on food. This figure is about the level of Egypt, India and Indonesia and worse (that is, higher) than, for example, in China, Tunisia, South Africa and most of Latin America.

The United States spends the least (in relative terms) on food: only 6.4% of their income. A very low share of total spending is also on food in Europe (especially Western and Northern), Australia, New Zealand, Canada, rich Asian countries (South Korea, Singapore, Taiwan), UAE

Most of all - in Nigeria: the average household in this poor African country spends 59% of their income on food.

However, commentators on Russian social networks also corrected these data:

- These statistics are greatly embellished by Moscow and several other cities;

- It makes no sense to look at the statistics for Russia if there is no data separately for Moscow and the rest of the country. In Kazakhstan, food is cheaper, and salaries are generally the same and even higher than in a number of Russian regions. But at the same time, Kazakhstan is orange and Russia is yellow. I believe that in fact Moscow in Russia is green, and almost the entire other country is just orange, like Kazakhstan.

Not only are the products expensive, but they are also of poor quality.

Considering that the published data refer to 2018, it is safe to say that now in Russia, and in Moscow, the situation is even worse:

- Even while living in Moscow, I know several households where food (and you have to understand that these are red prices in Pyaterochka and boxes of carrion at the market at the end of the day, and not delicious full-fledged food) takes 50-80% of income. And this despite the fact that seasonal free options are actively stocked (mushrooms and berries from the forest that grew from the dacha) .

And one more important remark about the quality of products sold in Russia. It really leaves much to be desired, especially in comparison with the European one, and even in the poorest countries, such as, for example, Bulgaria or Portugal:

- Many things for which rapidly impoverished Russians give a significant part of their modest incomes are not even considered food in normal countries.