By 2020 Russia could become the Europe's largest consumer goods marketbypassing Germany. And the fourth in the world, after China, the United States and Brazil. The Russia that emerges from the report drawn up by Shrerbank, the country's financial institution based in Moscow, is a strong and fast-growing Russia compared to the other BRICS.
The report dispels the myth that Russia's economy depends solely on the energy sector. It is true that oil and gas account for two-thirds of the Russian stock market but it should not be overlooked that domestic consumption is equal to 65% of the Russian economy. According to Andy Smith, head of research at Sberbank, from 2004 to today, 80% of the increase in Russian GDP is due to domestic consumption in retail and services. Sherbank has also launched, together with the report, an index of 24 stocks and a bimonthly bulletin which aim to follow and photograph the behavior of Russian consumers.
Moscow, with its 82 shopping malls (some of the largest in Europe), has become "the city of consumption". The engine of this country is the middle class which, in terms of weight and purchasing power, as a percentage of the total population far exceeds the other BRICS. 55% of Russians have an income of at least $15 and falls into the middle class. Russians tend not to have mortgages because most of them inherited their homes free of charge from the state at the end of the Soviet regime. Furthermore, the poor attitude of Russians to savings (presumably due to the legacy of the regime in which the lack of products to buy forced the forced regime) has placed the country in the first places in Europe for the sale of cars, mobile phones, cosmetics and luxury products . Without forgetting the small detail that the average monthly income of Russians is increasing and currently exceeds one thousand dollars.
