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Russian Consumers Confidence Hits Three-Year Low as Russia’s Economy Slows to 1% Growth
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Russian consumers became sharply more pessimistic about the economy in January, with the Bank of Russia’s survey-based expectations measures falling to their lowest levels in more than three years, according to The Moscow Times on February 3.
According to the Bank of Russia survey cited by the outlet, 28% of respondents said their material situation had worsened, and 53% complained of a “very strong” rise in prices.
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The “points” in the central bank’s report are standardized scores that convert responses from a nationwide monthly survey into a single number easy to compare over time.
In simple terms, higher readings mean more respondents give optimistic answers than pessimistic ones, and lower readings mean pessimistic answers are becoming more common.
The outlet said the one-year expectations index fell to 107 points in January 2026, down 10 points from the previous month, while the central bank also recorded three-year lows in longer-horizon expectations and in households’ outlook for their own finances, with the five-year index at 109 points and the personal-finances expectations index at 104.
The drop in sentiment came as The Moscow Times separately reported that the Russian leader, Vladimir Putin, told a Kremlin meeting on economic issues on February 3 that Russia’s economic growth in 2025 slowed to 1%, after growth of 4.1% in 2023 and 4.3% in 2024.
Putin called the slowdown “man-made” and tied it to efforts to curb inflation.
Earlier, it was reported that Russia’s economic optimism crashed as living standards hit a three‑year low, revealing steep declines in consumer confidence and outlook indices in late 2025 amid weakening perceptions of future economic conditions.
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