Dynamics and Structural Shifts in Wages by Types of Economic Activity in Russia

The purpose of the study is to assess the dynamics of nominal and real wages in Russia for 2017–2025 and to identify structural shifts in their distribution across economic activities, ownership types, personnel categories, and regions . Materials and methods: the empirical base comprises official data from Rosstat and Unified Interdepartmental Statistical Information System, supplemented by analytical materials from the Bank of Russia, and SberIndex; the study applies descriptive statistics, time-series analysis, integral indexes of structural differences (Ryabtsev index), and interregional and intersectoral comparisons . Results: nominal wages increased by 2.6 times over nine years from 39.2 to 100.4 thousand rubles, though the real dynamics was uneven: peak inflation in 2022 almost set the real growth to zero, while in 2023–2024 real incomes grew faster than labor productivity against the background of a structural shortage of personnel. The composition of industry leaders (finance, information technology, and mining) and lagging sectors (hospitality, agriculture, postal services) remained stable throughout the period, while the intersectoral gap has increased during this time. Regional differentiation in amplitude is comparable to sectoral differentiation, the gap between the leading regions and the regions with the lowest wages exceeds four times . Conclusion: the stability of the sectoral and regional wage structure with outstripping growth in earnings relative to productivity indicates a structural labor shortage as a leading factor in recent years, which is important for assessing the implementation of the national projects “Personnel” and “Efficient and competitive economy” .