Less poor in Murmansk
15,4 percent of the 850,000 people living in Murmansk Oblast are categorized as poor, Murman.ru reports. The figure is lower than in the Republic of Karelia (27,4%) and Arkhangelsk Oblast (20,1%).
In Russia general, the number of poor is on the decrease. From 2001 to 2007, the number of poor has been more than halved, from 40 million to 18.9 million. Despite the positive trend however, the gap between the rich and the poor is steadily growing with the rich getting richer and the poor poorer, BarentsObserver recently reported with reference to The Moscow Times.
In all of Russia, the average monthly wage stands at 16,253 RUB.
The 18.9 million Russian poor live below the poverty line of 4,000 RUB per month.
