Economic Woes Push More Russians Into Poverty, Highest Level In A Decade

More than 3 million Russians fell below the poverty line in 2015 — the highest level in nine years — according to official statistics released Monday. The sharp spike was driven by the country’s tanking economy, which has suffered from falling oil prices and Western sanctions.

There were 19.2 million people in poverty last year (13.4 percent of the population), up from 16.1 million in 2014, according to data released by the State Statistics Service.