The real disposable money income of Belarusians rose by 8.1% y/y in January-October 2018, the National Statistics Committee of Belarus reported on December 18.
With more money in their pockets, a Belarusian middle class is emerging which is in turn driving strong growth in retail: from a contraction in most of 2015 and 2016 the sector turned around in the middle of 2017 and has been growing strongly since. This expansion fuelled a bid by the republic’s biggest supermarket chain Eurotorg (aka Euroopt) to attempt an IPO in London in the autumn of 2018 – the republic’s first corporate IPO – which ultimately failed due to poor market conditions.
Salaries accounted for 64.1% of the total money income, revenues from doing business and other gainful activities were 8%, transfers to the population (pensions, welfare benefits, scholarships, and other kinds) another 23.5%, and property income and other kinds of revenue made up 4.4%.
The real disposable money income of individuals is calculated as monetary income minus taxes, duties, and fees adjusted bearing in mind the index of consumer prices for goods and services.