Vladimir Putin he was first elected president in 2000. In 18 years, the economy of the Russian Federation has changed drastically and for the better. This is demonstrated by the data published on Russia Today.
Quality of life
Before Putin's election, Russia had a GDP per capita of 9,889 dollars at purchasing power parity (PPP). The figure had nearly tripled by 2017 and now he has reached the 27,900 dollars. Russia has the highest GDP per capita of all the BRICS, with the second highest, at dinner, firm a 16,624 dollars. The PPP takes into account the relative cost of living and inflation rates of countries in order to compare living standards in different nations. The average nominal monthly wage grew by almost 11 times since 61 dollars to 652 dollars. Unemployment has fallen since 13% al 5,2%. Pensions have grown by more than 1.000 percent in the same period from 20 dollars to 221 dollars.
Economical performance
Russia is the sixth largest economy in the world in terms of purchasing power, with a GDP of 4 trillion dollars. PwC predicted that by 2050 the country will become Europe's largest economy with this measure, leaving Germany and the United Kingdom behind.
In the 1999, the Russian economy of the PPP was only worth 620 billion. So, in the last ones 18 years, Russian economic production in these terms increased by 600%.
Inflation rates have declined since 36,5% to 2.5% by the end of 2017. The total value of assets of the Russian banking system increased by 24 times a $ 1,43 trillion. The capitalization of the Russian stock market grew by more 15 times up to 621 billion.
Public debt and foreign reserves
When Putin was elected in 2000, Russia had just 12 billions of dollars in reserves, accompanied by a public debt – which was almost equal to the country's economic production – al 92,1 percent.
Things have changed considerably in 18 years, since Russian public debt has shrunk to 17,4% of GDP and reserves increased to 356 billions of dollars. Low debt and growing reserves helped the country survive the economic crisis of 2008 and the recession of 2014-2016, caused by a fall in oil prices and Western sanctions. Russian gold reserves increased by more than 500% dal 2000. The Russian central bank (CBR) he added 9,3 tons of gold to its reserves in December, bringing total annual holdings to a record value of 1.838,211 tons – worth over 76 billion dollars in monetary terms .
(Of Roberto Vivaldelli)