Mikhail Matovnikov, a chief analyst at Sberbank, announced today that Russia's average wages have fallen below the typical income in China. According to Matovnikov's study, the average Russian now earns $443 a month.
Matovnikov says reduced salaries in Russia have allowed companies with factories in the country to increase exports.
In December 2015, Russia's federal statistics office revealed that real wages fell 9.2 percent in November 2015 in annual terms. (Nominal wages also slipped by 5.4 percent.)