MOSCOW (AP) — Russia’s state statistical service says the number of people living in poverty last year spiked up by nearly 20 percent.
Statistics reported Monday for last year said 19.2 million Russians — about 13 percent of the population — were living at or below the official poverty level of 9662 rubles ($142) a month. That’s an increase of 3.1 million over 2014.
Russia’s economy has been hit hard the past two years by a combination of the decline of world prices for oil, the country’s primary export earner, and Western sanctions over Russia’s role in the eastern Ukraine conflict and …read more
Source: KXAN
