More than half of Russians believe that the worst is yet to come for the country’s economy, while a quarter believe they are currently experiencing the peak of the crisis, a poll by Moscow-based VTsIOM has found.
The poll, conducted on February 20-21, asked respondents to assess the situation of the country on a number of different criteria. As the bneChart below shows, when asked if the ongoing economic crisis in Russia is likely to end anytime soon, 52% said they believe the worst is yet to come – roughly the same percentage that has for the past four months.
While the majority offered up a grim prognosis when asked about Russia’s economy, 70% had a positive outlook when asked about the country’s overall situation.
The poll findings point to a population that is increasingly struggling to look ahead with any real conviction. 36% said that they would like to plan ahead, but find it practically impossible at the moment.
Another VTsIOM poll, conducted a week later on February 27-28, asked respondents to rate their lives on a number of criteria of wellbeing, taking average positive and negative answers to produce indices for each measure, with a minimum possible score of -100 and a maximum of 100.
As the interactive bneChart above shows, the index of Russia’s economic situation has actually seen a slight uptick since the turn of the year, growing from 17 to 24 between January and February, suggesting that while the economic outlook of most Russians remains negative, the day-to-day reality is that current economic constraints are manageable.
This is also reflected in the overall life satisfaction index, which has seen a sharp spike in 2016, following a gradual decline from the first half of 2014.