Official and perceived poverty in Russia

These figures probably understate inequality, given that they do not take account of the huge wealth kept in offshore accounts or assets. Novokmet, Piketty, and Zucman estimate that this represented US$800 billion in 2015, as much as the total financial wealth ‘held by the entire Russian population in Russia itself’. According to the authors, a handful of Russian businesspeople hold most of this offshore wealth. At the other end of the spectrum, the poverty rate declined from a quarter of the population living below the nationally determined poverty line in 2002, to one tenth in 2012. The poverty rate then slightly increased (see Figure 6).